Meet me down by the river
by Imaginator9
Summary: My personal take on Infinite's story. Expect familiar scenes to play out differently, and small twists here and there. Maybe even a happier ending will be found at the end :0 Most importantly though: There will be NO (intended) romance between Booker and Elizabeth, but with these two who knows what will happen ;)
1. The Deal

New York City - 1912

Booker DeWitt sat alone in his New York office. He had his feet propped up his desk and his hands hung to his sides. In his left hand, a smoking cigarette and in his right was a half empty bottle of booze. It had been a long day with no new jobs coming in. This had been the pattern for the last few weeks now, and Booker was starting to get worried. His gambling and drinking debts were beginning to pile higher and higher, and with no new money to pay them back down he was starting to get worried. He had managed to get by so far because he had made constant payments, but he had missed a few lately and people were starting to get antsy.

"I hope something comes up soon or i'll be in some deep shit" Booker mumbled to himself, taking another puff of his cigarette.

As if on cue, he heard a knock at his office door. Two silhouettes stood side by side outside his door. Booker didn't get up from his desk, thinking maybe he was imagining things. He heard the knock again, louder this time, followed by "Mr. DeWitt? Are you in there?"

"Perhaps he isn't home brother." said a woman's voice.

"What a shame, we could have used his help," responded the other voice, clearly a man.

Booker quickly jumped up, hiding the booze and snuffing the cigarette, and ran to the door. He quickly through it open and in front of him stood a man and a woman, whose appearances was strikingly similar.

"Ah so he IS here," said the man looking towards his companion "Told you."

"Sorry to keep you waiting" Booker said "Please, come in". He stepped back and motioned for them to come in. They walked in unison, even taking their seats at the same time. Booker took his seat behind his desk and asked "So what is it that I can help you two with?"

"The question is not so much what we need, but what you need," replied the man

This statement confused Booker and he responded curiously "What do you mean?"

"We know, Mr. DeWitt, that you are quite the predicament, regarding your recently accumulating debts" answered the woman.

"And we believe that we have the solution to your problem," said the man.

Booker looked at them incredulously. How did they know of his debts and more importantly, why did they want to help? "My debts are none of your business" he responded coldly, leaning forward in his chair "I am not a charity case. Now unless you have a job for me, I respectfully ask you to leave."

The man looked surprised, but not faltered, "Ah, but you see Mr. DeWitt that's the catch. Our job IS the solution to your problem"

Booker raised an eyebrow. These two were strange and he didn't like how intrusive they were into his personal life, but he was also intrigued by their offer. Slumping back into his chair and pulling out a fresh cigarette, he lazily asked "OK, what exactly is your solution to my problem?"

The two seemed excited that he had taken interest in their offer. "Simply put, you complete our little job and we pay off all your debts." the woman said nonchalantly.

Booker almost fell out of his chair. He dropped his cigarette and leaned forward. "What did you say?" he said, scarcely able to believe them.

"You come with us to Maine and complete a task for us and then we wipe you clean of your debts," the man repeated.

Booker chuckled. He knew they couldn't wipe him of ALL of his debts, some things couldn't be repaid. The two twins seemed serious about their offer though. Booker didn't trust them to keep their word, but could he really pass up an opportunity like this? With work slow and his debts piling up, he knew people were going to come after him soon. "What exactly will I be helping you with?" he asked inquisitively.

"We will offer more details once we are in Maine" quickly responded the woman. She handed him a train ticket and a sealed letter. "Take the train tomorrow into Maine. Once there go to the town written in that letter. We will meet your there."

The two quickly stood up and turned to leave. Booker yelled after them "Hey, how will I contact you?"

The man turned to him and smiled "Don't worry Mr. DeWitt, we will contact you!" and with that the two exited Booker's office.

Booker slide back down into his chair and took a long drink from his bottle. He could barely believe what just happend. Two people just offered to pay off his debts. He would finally be a free man. He looked down at the ticket and sighed "Well, looks like I got a train to catch."


	2. The Job

Booker awoke to the sound of a train screeching to a halt. He looked outside and saw a small seaside town. It was much different than New York City. In the city, buildings were several stories tall and here most didn't even have a second floor. As he got off the train he took in a deep breath, tasting the fresh salty sea air. He let out a big sigh as he exhaled. It was late at night and pouring rain. He felt like a drink. He made his way into town and found the local pub. He took a seat at the bar. He was about to call over the bartender when he heard "Can I buy you a drink?" from behind him.

He turned to see the man from his office sitting next to him. "Sure" Booker replied "I'll just have a beer".

"Splendid!" said the man turning to the bartender.

"How'd you know to find me here?" Booker asked.

"Just a hunch," said the man mockingly. Booker understood now. They probably smelled the alcohol on his breath back in his office. Way to make a first impression, Booker thought.

"You know, I never got your name" Booker asked.

"My name isn't important right now," He curtly replied. "What is important is that we get to down to business. Now, listen carefully as you mustn't forget what I am about to tell you."

Reluctantly Booker leaned closer.

"You are you retrieve a girl locked away in a tower and bring her to New York," the man explained "Upon your return all your debts will be paid in full."

Booker laughed. "So, you want me to be prince charming and rescue Rapunzel?" He chuckled to himself "What, is there a dragon too?" This guy is obviously leading me on, Booker thought. This job was ridiculous and even if it was real, why him? Booker ordered another drink.

"While I find your joke quite amusing Mr. DeWitt, I am quite serious. Bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt."

Booker chuckled again and asked "So, where exactly is this tower of yours?". He half expected the man to tell him this was all a joke and send him home.

The man looked at him and said "We will take you to a lighthouse, just off the coast. There, you will be taken to your destination."

Booker looked at the man, not sure if he was serious or not. Booker decided not to question him, as he was paying for his drinks. Booker decided to milk this opportunity and order another drink as he asked "So, who exactly is this girl I am finding?" He took a long drink from his beer and then turned to the man, who sat looking at him disgusted.

"The girl's name is Elizabeth," responded the man.

"What does she look like? I gotta be able to recognize her, right?" Booker laughed and his words began to slur.

He man produced a photo from his jacket and handed it to Booker. Booker looked at the picture of a little girl holding a bird doll. "This is from several years ago, but I assume she looks similar enough you could recognize her." The man pulled what appeared to be a post card from his jacket and handed it to Booker. "And this is where you will find her," he said, pointing to a large golden statue on the card. Booker was now on his fourth drink now, and was beginning to to feel the full effects of the alcohol. He could barely make out the picture. "Looks like an angel," he whispered before slapping the mans shoulder and laughing. "She an angel too?" he asked as he continued to laugh.

That was the last thing Booker remembered before his awoke to the sound of thunder. He quickly woke up and looked around sporadically. He was on a small boat with the twins from his office. They wore full rain gear and the man was rowing towards what appeared to be a light house. "Ah, it appears your friend has awoken" the woman remarked sarcastically.

"Hey, where am I?" Booker yelled to them.

"You are on a boat, Mr. Dewitt" the woman smartly replied, not turning to look at him.

"Yes, I meant how did I get here?"

"You passed out last night from over-consumption of alcoholic beverages," replied the man.

"Yes, he has quite the drinking problem," the woman added.

"Quite,"

These two are getting on my nerves already, Booker thought to himself. The woman handed him a box labeled Booker DeWitt 7th Cavalry. How did they know he was in the 7th Cavalry, he wondered. He decided to let it pass. He opened the box and inside was the picture of the girl and the tower, as well as the coordinates for New York, some odd silver coins, a card with three symbols on it, a large brass key, and a pistol. Booker took the pistol and put in his holster for safe keeping. In the rush to get here, Booker completely forgot his trusty revolver back in New York.

"This will have to do," he muttered to himself. He put the rest of the items in his pockets and closed the box. He looked up just as the woman said "We've arrived."


	3. Hallelujah

"Do you suppose he will be getting out soon?" the woman asked her brother.

"He will, eventually," he replied.

Booker shook his head. He had been staring up at the lighthouse looming above him, still unclear if this was all real.

"Hopefully he'll move soon. Time is of the the essence," he heard the woman say

Booker climbed up the ladder onto the small wooden dock and looked up at the lighthouse again. I wonder why they brought me out here? He looked back down at the boat and saw the two rowing back out to sea. "Hey!" he called after them "Is someone meeting me here?"

"I'd certainly hope so," the man called back "It seems like a dreadful place to be stranded."

"Just great," Booker grumbled "Stranded out here in the pouring rain." He looked back up at the lighthouse "Maybe someones inside." He walked briskly across the dock and up the winding stairs to the lighthouse. Booker noticed a note on the door that read:

DeWitt -  
Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt  
This is your last chance!

Booker looked at the note both confused and worried. Were the people who hired him those who he was in debt to? Booker wasn't sure but either way, he had to keep moving forward. There was no going back now.

Booker knocked on the heavy wooden door and shouted "Hello? Its Booker DeWitt. I guess you're expecting me?" Hearing no response Booker pushed open the door. As Booker walked in he noticed a wash basin with a sign above it that said Of thy sins shall I wash thee. Booker walked over and looked into the water and then back up at the sign. Booker smirked, "Good luck with that, pal." He continued up the stairs, hearing music coming from somewhere. "Is anyone here? Hello?" Booker called out, but no response answered him.

He arrived on the second floor of the lighthouse. Music was playing from a radio, but what caught his attention was a map of the United States. Several points were marked and connected by string. There was a note posted on the map:

He is coming.  
You must stop him  
-C

Who was C and how did they know he was coming? Booker desperately wanted answers but nothing in the room revealed anything interesting. Booker walked over to the other side of the room, and something caught his eye. A table was knocked over, with food and broken plates laying on the ground. "That's odd," Booker said to himself, looking up the stairs now. He noticed a small cabinet was laying on the ground with books laying around it. Was there some kind of fight up here? Booker walked up the stairs to investigate. He looked at the cabinet, but something else caught his attention. "Shit.." Booker muttered as he walked towards the dead body tied to a chair. The body wore a sack on it's head and had a pool of blood around it. It had a sign on its lap that had Don't disappoint us written in blood. Booker turned away from the gruesome sight and continued to the next floor. He walked up the stairs, and he noticed he was outside now. He saw a large metal door, but it was locked. He continued up the stairs until he was on the roof of the lighthouse.

Booker walked out into the rain and saw the lighthouses' spinning light bulb rotating. "Well, I guess nobody's home," He was about to head back downstairs when he saw three bells on what appeared to be a door. He got closer and noticed the bells had three symbols on them: A scroll, and key, and a sword. "Wait a minute, that card," he said as he reached into his pocket. He pulled out the card the twins had given him. On it was a scroll, a key, and a sword each with a number next to it. On a whim, Booker tapped on of the bells and a light above it suddenly lit up.  
"Huh," Booker thought. He tapped the bell with the key on it, and its light lit up too but only slightly. Booker looked back at the card, noticing the key and sword had the number two next to them. Now he understood. He tapped the key bell again and the sword bell twice. All the lights lit up.

Suddenly, the sky lit up red and a loud noise was blaring from somewhere in the clouds. Booker covered his ears and yelled in pain. "What the hell is going on!," he yelled to nobody. Then, the sounds and lights faded. Booker uncovered his ears, noticing a door had opened and the lighthouses' light had been replaced by a chair. "All right," Booker said, a little nervous "I guess they expect me to sit in their fancy chair." Booker sat down on the red leather chair "So, what happens -," Suddenly arm restraints closed on his hands. "What the hell -," Booker started to say but he was interrupted by a voice coming from the chair.

"Make yourself ready pilgrim," the voice said.

"Pilgrim?" Booker repeated.

"The bindings are there as a safeguard,"

"This can't be good," Booker said, when suddenly the chair flipped forward.

"No no.. damn it!" Booker yelled as his gun fell from it's holster down below. Booker then noticed rocket boosters flaring up. Booker's eyes widened as he realized what was happening. The chair now snapped back upright.

"Ascension in the count of five... count of four... three...," the voice counted.

"No no no no no!," Booker yelled.

"two... one..,"

The rocket boosters blazed as the rocket flew up into the air. "Just say calm," Booker reassuringly told himself. The voice started to report how high they were.

"Five-thousand feet...ten-thousand feet...fifteen-thousand feet,"

Despite his pep talk Booker was freaking out. He could see out the small window they were flying higher and higher above the clouds. Then suddenly there was a burst of light through the window. Booker ducked his head down to avoid the blinding light.

"Hallelujah."


	4. Heaven

Booker felt the rocket jolt and start to slowly float down. He slowly lifted his head up and looked out the small glass window in front of his. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Outside his window was a floating city; american-style flags waving in the wind, tall buildings gracefully floating bye. An airship flew past his window. Booker couldn't believe what he was seeing. A floating city? Impossible. Yet here is was before him.

As the rocket slowly floated down, he noticed a large billboard with a bearded man's face on it. The poster identified the man as Father Comstock, Our Prophet. The man looked oddly familiar to Booker, yet he couldn't remember where he had seen him. Booker didn't know many religious men and he was sure he would recognize the few he had seen. Booker's train of thought was cut short when the rocket landed heavily on a roof. The rocket started to slowly move downwards into the building as if on an elevator. As the rocket descended, Booker noticed writing on the buildings beams.

Why would he send his savior onto us,

If we will not raise a finger for our own salvation?

And though we deserved not his mercy,

He has lead us to a new eden,

A last chance for redemption.

The rocket continued down until it entered a room with a huge stained glass window, portraying a man pointing up to a floating city. This man was Father Comstock, sunbeams coming out of his head as if he were divine. A mural above the window read And the Prophet shall lead the people to the New Eden.

"Pffft," thought Booker "Give a man a little power, and he falls in all kinds of love with himself."

The rocket's door swung open and the chairs restrains unlocked. Booker rubbed his sore wrists before exiting the rocket. He stepped down and noticed the floor was covered with a thin layer of water. Booker groaned as he walked, he had been tense the entire ride and his muscles were sore now. Booker ignored the pain and he walked down the hallway into a circular area. Busts of Comstock jutted out from a central column, staring down at all who entered. "What you lookin at?" Booker said to himself, avoiding the statues' gaze. Not sure which way to go, he went left towards another archway. He entered what appeared to be a chapel and in front was a large stained glass window of a woman. She was identified only as Lady Comstock, presumably the prophet's wife. Seeing no exit through there, Booker turned and continued around the rotunda until he came to another archway. This room was another chapel, but the window in this room portrayed the prophet and Lady Comstock holding a child, identified as The Lamb, The future of our city. Seeing no way out through this chapel either, he turned back to the central room. He spotted a man wearing white robes standing beside a staircase leading down.

"Hey!" Booker shouted "Where am I?"

"Heaven, friend," the man calmly replied "Or at least as close as we'll see 'till judgement day,"

"Best keep such questions to myself or i'll stand out," Booker muttered to himself as he walked down the staircase. At the bottom of the staircase, Booker entered a large open room filled with knee high water and candles. People wearing white robes were walking in unison towards a preacher, who was talking to a group of robed individuals. As Booker walked up the group and pushed his way to the front. The preacher noticed him and stopped his sermon. "Is there someone new?" he asked "Is there someone who wishes to be washed clean by the waters of baptism?"

"I just need passage into the city," Booker responded.

"Brother," the priest chuckled "The only way into the city is through the sweet waters of baptism," He held out his hand to Booker.

Booker looked nervously around him, the robed men and women encouraging him to go through with it. It was either get baptised or turn around and get back on that rocket. Booker sighed. There was no turning back now. He stepped forward and took the priest's hand. The priest was stronger than Booker had anticipated and he pulled Booker in close. "I baptise you in the name of our prophet, in the name of our founders, and the name of our Lord!" Booker was then plunged into the cold water. The priest pulled him back up and said to the crows "I don't know brothers and sisters, this one doesn't look clean!" Without warning Booker was plunged back into the water. Booker heard the crowd yelling "Praise be the prophet and our fair city!" Then he blacked out.


	5. Welcome to Columbia

Booker woke up coughing and sputtering. He was laying in a shallow stream, a bright sun beating down on him. Booker shielded his eyes from the light as he sat up. In front of him were three large status of the American founding fathers: Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin. Three robed figures kneeled praying in front of them. 'What kind of nut house is this' Booker thought to himself. Booker slowly got up and walked towards a pair of staircases. A man at the top wore a white robe and greeted him. "Welcome brother, to the new Eden!".

"Thanks," Booker said dismissively. He wanted to avoid conversation with these people as much as possible. It was only a matter of time before they discovered he didn't belong. As he walked through the garden he noticed more robed civilians praying to the founding fathers. He respected the men who founded America, but praying to them seemed a bit too much for Booker. "Finally," Booker said under his breath, noticing a door at the other end of the garden. He walked slowly towards it, not wanting to draw attention to himself. He pushed open the door and was greeted by a huge status of Father Comstock, standing tall over the cities citizens and brandishing a mighty sword. 'Some ego this guy has' Booker thought. He continued to follow the road until he came to a draw bridge. As he arrived the bridge closed, and a police officer stepped in front of him. "Step back. You have to wait like the rest," he said, glaring at Booker. Sensing he wasn't going to get across just yet, he stepped back. He heard fanfare coming from behind him and noticed three large signs floating by. A voice coming from the floats explained the images on the signs to the crowd.

The first sign showed an angel floating above Father Comstock, who was dressed like a working man and stood in a cornfield.

"The angle Columbia did appear to Father Comstock and instilled in him a vision of a New Eden." the voice explained.

The second sign floating by, depicting the same scene from the welcome center. Father Comstock stood heroically, pointing the way to a floating city in the clouds.

"And so Father Comstock lead the people to a New Eden so that they might be spared the sins of the Sodom below." the voice continued.

The last sign depicted father Comstock and Lady Comstock again holding a child.

"But it was the miracle child, the lamb, who is future of our fair city! She alone holds the key to our salvation!"

The signs floating away and the bridge was opened. "OK, you can go across now. Enjoy the raffle folks." the officer said. Booker walked across the bridge with the rest of the crowd, trying not to stand out. As he made it across the bridge he noticed a large sign depicting a hooded figure, clothed in all black, standing over a small innocent lamb. The sign read Beware the False Shepherd! He seeks to lead our Lamb astray! Booker dismissed the poster as religious propaganda and continued down the road.

Booker walked out from under an archway and saw before a giant tower in the shape of an angle, made entirely of what appeared to be gold. Booker reached into his pocket and pulled out the postcard the twins had given him. "Thats where they said i'd find her," he said to himself. As Booker got closer he realized the tower was on its own floating platform, separate from the rest of the city. "Damn it," Booker thought "That's going to be a bitch to get to". He continued down the road towards the raffle. As he entered the fairgrounds, he heard a man advertising something called Vigors. He looked over and saw two men dressed as devils using magic powers on each other. Booker raised an eyebrow. A man was standing on a platform above the devils shouting "What if I told you a man could lift a one ton weight above his head, would you believe me? If I told you a man could conjure fire from his fingers, would you believe me?" 'Not likely' Booker thought.

The man continued "Those are no flights of fancy, are no tall tales told behind the pool hall! Those are Vigors! Superpowers in a bottle, now on display in the Colombian fairgrounds!"

While Vigors intrigued Booker, he wasn't about to drink anything these people gave him. He'd already been burned in the past for trusting strangers and he wasn't about to make that mistake again. He made his way into the carnival. It reminded him of the fairs that he used to go to as a kid back in New York. Of course he could never afford to pay to get in, but he always knew how to sneak in. He had always loved the county fairs, lots of games and prizes

It was one of the few times he was happy as a child. Booker shook his head; he has to focus. This was no time for happy memories, he had a job to do. He walked through the tent filled square, trying his best to avoid eye contact with anyone. He saw a gate on the other side of the square and hurried to it. He saw it was blocked by a curious looking machine, whose top have was a animatronic man wearing a hat. "Sorry friend, the raffles all sold out! Only VIPs and dignitaries are allowed in now. Please come back next year!" Booker cursed under his breath. This was the only way in and now he was locked out. He was about to leave when he heard a voice behind him. "Want to get into the raffle?" Booker whirled around to see a young woman holding a basket filled with strange green bottles.

"We'll, y-yes but it is all sold out," Booker nervously stammered. He didn't want to be talking to anyone about his intentions.

"Try possession," she said motioning to the bottles in her basket. "Take back control from the men of metal!"

"Sorry, I can't pay," Booker said, hoping to end this conversation quickly.

"You're funny! It's a free sample, can't you read the sign?"

Booker looked past the girl and saw a large sign that read Possession: Free Samples! Today only. Booker felt really foolish now. He quickly grabbed a bottle from the basket and thanked the girl. He twisted open the bottle and eyed the glowing green liquid. Booker closed his eyes and took a quick sip. All of a sudden he felt an odd tingling sensation in his arms. He saw a green glow begin to pulsate around his arms and mist seemed to form around his finger tips. Booker watched curiously until the mist morphed into the shape of a woman and began to fly around his hands. Booker dropped the bottle and stared at his hands, his eyes wide and a look of terror on his face. What sort of drink was this?

"Hey, are you OK?" He heard the girl ask

Booker looked at her and then back at his hands. The green woman and mist were gone. "I'm fine," he said, but in truth he was still shaken up by the experience with the Vigor. He wasn't sure if it was real or if it was in his head. Didn't matter now though, he had a job to do.

"So how does this Vigor stuff work?"

"It's easy!" The girl said cheerily "Just focus on the object you wish to possess and think about possessing it! The vigor does the rest!" She smiled at Booker expectantly.

Booker turned to the mechanical guard and stared into it's lifeless mechanical eyes. He clenched his fists and felt the green woman floating around, tickling his fingers. He threw his hand out, but nothing happened. Booker looked back at the girl who stood trying not to laugh at him. "Silly, you need salts to use Vigors!" she said, barely able to hold back her laughter. She pointed to three bottles, each containing a deep blue liquid. He opened the bottle and drank the whole bottle. Booker cleared his throat and returned his gaze to the robot. He threw out his hand again and this time the spirit flew from his hand into the machine, whose eyes changed from yellow to green.

"Ah senator Beaufort! Welcome to the Raffle!" The machine said "I'm not sure why I didn't recognize you before."

The gates swing open. Booker turned to the woman who just smiled at him before going back to her post. Booker shrugged and walked through the gate. It slammed closed behind him causing Booker to quickly turn around. "Looks like I'm not leaving..." Booker said, trailing off as he turned around.

"Heads?"

"Or tails?"


	6. The Raffle

Booker almost jumped at what he saw before him. Standing before him were the two twins who had hired him. How did they get here before him? He saw them row off in their boat!

"How did-," Booker began, but he was cut off.

"Mr. DeWitt, you will find that things here in Columbia are not always as they seem." The woman said tauntingly. She held out a plate containing a single coin. Her brother wore a double sided chalkboard with two columns labeled heads and tails. Several marks were already made under the heads column.

"Heads or tails?" She repeated.

Booker sighed, there was no getting out of this. He reluctantly took the coin and flipped it.

"Tails."

The coin landed neatly on the plate. "Told you," her brother said, his sister placing another check mark under the heads column. "I never find that as satisfying as the first time," he said with a smirk. "Chin up" she said "there's always next time." They turn their backs on Booker and started to walk away.

"Hey!" Booker yelled after them "Where are you going?"

They stopped and turn around to look at him. "Why do you ask where?" said the man. "When the delicious questions is when?" finished the woman. They then processed to round a corner into an ally.

Booker started to walk quickly after them, yelling "Wait, what was that suppose to mean! I need answers!" But when he rounded the corner they were not where to be found.

"God damn it" Booker muttered to himself. He wanted answers and all these two seemed to do is give more questions. He turned around and saw many faces staring at him. Booker felt his face getting red as he put his head down and quickly walked away.

As he got closer to the raffle he heard people singing. He also saw a larger number of armed police officers standing around holding odd shaped gauntlets. They appeared to be some of kind of claw. Booker wasn't sure what it was for but it certainly looked dangerous. He walked towards the singing and came upon a outdoor stage. On the stage was a man with a handlebar mustache and top hat leading the crowd in the singing. As he approached he heard the man call the crowd to order and announce that the raffle would be starting. Booker tried to walk through but the crowds blocked his path. Booker was about to try and push his way through when he heard a voice call him. "Hey mister! Over here!" Booker turned to see a girl, much like the one at the fair, waving him over. She too had a basket but hers was filled with baseballs. "Sorry, no sale" Booker said as he walked over. "There's no charge for the raffle silly!" she chirped "You been living under a rock or something?" Sighing, Booker grabbed a baseball labeled 77. "77? That's a lucky number," the girl said as Booker looked over the ball. "I'll be rooting for you..." She said, winking at him as she walked away. Booker looked back up at the spokesperson who was pulling a number out of a bowl. The crowd grew quieter as he started to announce the winner "And the winner is... number 77!" The crowd started cheering and Booker saw the girl with the baseballs pointing at him and yelling "It's him! He's the winner!"

"Well what do ya know," Booker said. 'So much for remaining unknown' he thought. The curtains on the stage started to pull back to reveal his prize. Booker's eyes widened when he saw what is was. "My god..." he whispered. On the stage was a white man and a black woman tied to a post with cutouts of monkeys standing around them. The announcer explained that these two had tried to mix the races with an interracial couple. The crowd started to yell feverishly. The man on the stage turned to Booker and said "Number 77, claim your prize! First throw!" Booker stood there dumbstruck. He couldn't believe they expected him to throw a baseball at these people. "Ooh, we got a shy one up here," the announcer taunted "What's the matter, you taking your coffee black now?" The man and the crowd laughed at his joke. Booker didn't want to throw the ball, but he had no choice. He couldn't jeopardize the job anymore by standing out. He took a deep breath and raised his arm to throw the ball.

"Hey, hold on a second!" Booker felt his arm being grabbed. He turned and saw a police officer grabbing his arm. "Hey Fink, take a look at this guys hand!". The officer lifted his hand up so the man on the stage, apparently named Fink, could see. Fink's face twisted into anger and the crowd fell silent. "Where did you get that brand, boy?" he sneered "Don't you know that makes you the backstabbing False Shepherd?"

Booker quickly remembered the poster he saw earlier. "Oh shit," Booker thought. If that poster was any indication, he was not a popular man. Fink continued his rant on stage; he was talking to the crowd now. "And we ain't gonna let a False Shepherd into our flock!" The crowd responded with a yell. "Show what we got planned boys!" Fink yelled. Another officer came up to Booker, equipped with the claw gauntlet he had seen earlier. It started to spin and got closer to his face. Booker couldn't break away from the cops grip. In a moment of quick thinking, Booker tossed the baseball he still held into the air, distracting the officer long enough for him to grab his head and slam it into the spinning claws. The crowd screamed as the claw chewed through the mans face. Booker punched the other officer in the face and grabbed the claw off the mans body. The claw said Skyhook on it. He didn't have time to analyze it further thought, he spotted more cops streaming in from a gate on his left. They charged him with clubs, but Booker quickly cut them down with a few swift strikes from his new Skyhook. Blood splattered everywhere and quickly Booker was surrounded by a pile of bodies. Booker worked his way up the stairs leading to the gate out of arena and was confronted by more police. He quickly dispatched most of them, but he was forced to take cover when one pulled out a pistol and started firing on him.

He needed a gun, and this guy was going to give it to him. He waited until he heard the cop start to reload, then he sprinted out from his cover and tackled the officer. The officer pushed Booker off him and stood up, but he realized he had dropped his gun. He looked over to Booker who stood aiming the pistol at the man's head. The man tried to run but Booker quickly ended his life with a headshot. Booker turned around but saw the cops had blockaded the gate. He turned a quickly moved down the path towards a police airship. He ran onto the ship, knocked out one man with his skyhook and took out the other with a few swift shots from his pistol. He noticed a automated turret sat at the front of the ship. Booker lined up his crosshairs, but then he remembered what the girl from the fair said. "Take back control from the men of metal.." he said to himself. He looked at the turret and threw his hand out. The ghostly woman flew from his fingertips and engulfed the turret. Suddenly, it began to fire down upon the officers waiting for Booker. "Thats convenient," Booker thought as he ran down the length of the ship and jumped off to the ground below.

Booker heard the sound of grinding metal. He looked up to see more police riding rails above him using skyhooks. They spotted him and jumped down around him. Booker quickly ended their lives with a combo of skyhook strikes and pistol shots. He spotted more police officers down the road, but when they saw him they ran away. "Cowards," Booker laughed. He walked after them, shooting the few officers who stayed to fight him. He heard one of the retreating officers yell "The firemen's hear! Get back!" Fireman? What was a fireman going to do? Booker confidently walked through the empty streets until he came to a gate.

As he approached the gate he felt warmer and soon he was sweating. "Whew, its getting hot in here." Booker said. "Feels like fire..." Booker pushed open the gate and saw the source of the heat. A man encased in metal was standing in the center of a burning town square. He spotted Booker and began to throw fireballs at Booker. "Your pain in my redemption!" he screamed. Booker rolled out of the way of the incoming fire and took cover behind a cart. "Jesus, what was that!" Booker panted "How is that even possible!?" His only answer was another fireball that blew up his cover. Booker began to fire rapidly at the Fireman, who roared in anger and started to glow red hot. He charged Booker's position. Booker lept out of the way just in time. The fireman crashed into the wall and exploded in a ball of fire. Booker approached the charred corpse carefully and put a few extra rounds in the fireman's head for good measure. As he was about to walk away Booker noticed something sticking out of the fireman's pocket. He grabbed it and saw it was a red vigor bottle, labels Devil's Kiss. Booker was unsure of the dangers of Vigors but if everyone had these powers he was at a disadvantage, and he needed all the help he could get. "Well, you only live once" he said before downing the bottle. Booker felt his fingers getting hot. He looked down to see his hands were burning and his flesh was melting away. Booker yelled in pain and started waving his hands around wildly. When Booker looked back at his hands, they were back to normal. Booker checked over his hands and was satisfied the Vigor had caused no harm. Satisfied, he tried throwing a fireball. He held his hands like he was holding a ball and a ball fire started to form in his hand. He threw his hand forward and launched the ball. It impacted the ground with a fiery explosion. Booker looked past the fireman and saw a building with a sign above it that read Blue Ribbon Diner. Booker smiled. "I guess I could use a drink."


	7. Order of the Raven

Booker pushed open the door to the Blue Ribbon Diner carefully, his gun held at the ready. He entered slowly, gently closing the door behind him. He crept down the hall to the main dining area and peeked around the corner. He didn't see more police as he expected, but the pesky twins who had been following him. Booker sighed and holstered his gun.

"Ah, it appears we have company," the woman said to her brother.

"Indeed we do," she replied.

"Why are you following me?" Booker asked.

"We were already here," the woman smarty remarked.

"Why you following us?" her brother finished with a smirk.

"Wha-," Booker started but stopped. There was no reasoning with these people. Booker sat down at the bar where the male twin was cleaning the counter. "Care for a drink?" He asked.

"Yes, please," Booker answered. The man placed a large glass bottle in front of Booker. Booker looked up expecting wine, beer, or vodka but instead a large bottle filled with a glowing yellow liquid sat before him.

Booker stared at the peculiar liquid. "What the hell is this?" he asked angrily. All he wanted was some alcohol!

"Just drink it," he man said to him, obviously not pleased with Booker's response. Booker unscrewed the cap, took a deep breath, and downed the drink in a single gulp. He felt his skin tingle and glow yellow, like electricity was running through his body. Was this another Vigor? All of a sudden he felt his skin tighten, as if it was becoming harder. Then, he glow faded and he felt normal again.

"What the hell was that?" Booker asked still analyzing his skin.

"That was an electromagnetic shield," the man began to explain "Very useful indeed, much more so than the dreadful alcohol you put in your body."

"_If_ it doesn't kill you," the woman added curtly.

"But it didn't," he protested.

"But it could," his sister replied.

"A fair point." Both stood smiling at each other as of this was all just a big joke at Booker's expense.

Booker groaned. He didn't have time for their idiotic antics. He grabbed a bottle of vodka from behind the counter and took a quick sip before getting up to leave.

"There he goes again with the alcohol!" the man exclaimed.

"You must be more vigilant at your post, dear brother," his sister pointed out.

Booker was long gone before they could continue their banter. He had little time before Columbia's finest found him again and he couldn't afford to spend it chatting with those two. He had to get the girl and get out of the city before things really got out of hand.

He walked through the kitchen and out the diner's back entrance. He found himself on a narrow balcony. There were buildings floating around him, but none were connected to the diner and all of them were too far away for him to jump. A hook hanging above a maintenance platform caught his eye. He pulled out his skyhook and examined its hooks. "I wonder..." he thought. He took a deep breath, took a few steps back, and then sprinted at full speed towards the hook. He lept off the edge of balcony and reached out with the skyhook. He felt himself being pulled towards the hook, like magnet attracting metal. "Whoa! The damn thing must be magnetized!" Booker exclaimed. He saw another hook hanging several meters away. He started to swing himself back and forth to build momentum before leaping off his hook to the other hook. Again, the skyhook was drawn towards the hook and latched on with a loud _Clank!_ "This will come in handy," Booker thought. He jumped down onto someone's rooftop terrace and walked inside the building.

Booker appeared to be in a kitchen, so he assumed he was in someone's house. He readied his pistol in case there was resistance. He came around the corner into a large open room where he saw a man and a woman arguing. They noticed him and the woman screamed.

"Its you! You're the one they're looking for," the man said, pushing the woman behind him. Booker raised his pistol.

"I'm not going to hurt you, but I won't hesitate to if you try anything funny." he said as he walked slowly past them towards the door leading outside. All of sudden a loud knock came from behind the door. "Columbian police! We need your assistance finding the False Shepherd!" Booker froze. "Shit!" he said quietly, turning to the couple who stood holding each other. "Just go," the man said, trying to appear brave. Booker kicked open the door, sending the officer directly behind it flying backwards. Booker stepped out and immediately shot the two other officers in the head with his pistol, before executing the man on the ground with his skyhook. "

"There he is! Shoot to kill! Protect Columbia and the Lamb!"

Booker turned to see five more police officers running at him. One was carrying a machine gun. He started to spray bullets in Booker's direction. Booker braced for the impact, but he felt no pain. The bullets had bounced off his shield. "Well I'll be damned," he said before quickly diving into cover as another burst came whizzing by him.

"Surround him!" yelled the officer in charge, and the officers with pistols began to creep up on Booker's position. Booker knew he couldn't take them all out with just a pistol. His eyes darted around, looking for something to help him. He noticed a box of fireworks sitting on the ground, near where the cops were walking. Booker took and deep breath, conjured a fireball with Devil's Kiss and whipped it at the box. The box exploded with a whirl of fireworks and noise makers. While the police were distracted by the bright lights and explosions, Booker charged at them shooting a few officers and finishing off the survivors with swift skyhook strikes. The officer with the machine gun saw Booker coming and started to run away. Booker took off after him and tackled him to the ground. The cop screamed in terror as Booker bludgeoned his face with the skyhook. Blood splattered everywhere.

Booker used his neckerchief to wipe the blood from his face and skyhook claws. He grabbed the machine gun and a few clips from the dead officer before continuing on. He came upon a gate with strange writing above it.

_Ademus Patria Nostra Defendere_

Booker didn't understand the language so he just shrugged and pushed open the gate. He found himself in a small courtyard in front of a massive black building. He felt like it got darker as he got closer, as if the building was sucking all the life out of the area. He opened the door and stepped into the building. He was greeted by a huge statue of John Wilkes Booth. Booth had assassinated Abraham Lincoln, and he was almost universally hated by Americans. However, who ever lived here seemed to worship the man.

The whole building seemed to smell of rotting food and death, and there were ravens everywhere. A set of stairs behind the statue led upstairs. Booker decided to checked the other rooms first. One appeared to be a dining hall, but the table was covered with rotting food and instead of people eating ravens would fly down and grab food before flying off to hide in some dark corner. The other room was a bar. Two large stain glass windows light up the room. One showed Abraham Lincoln, but with devil horns and glowing red eyes and the other showed Father Comstock dressed in pure white robes. Booker took a swig from one of the bottle before heading back to the main hall. Booker walked up the staircase to the second floor. He was on a balcony overlooking some kind of ceremony.

Several figures wearing hooded robes, not unlike those of the Ku Klux Klan, stood listening to another hooded man on stage. Their robes were black and navy blue Crows were everywhere, flying around the man talking. "Crazy nutjobs," Booker thought as he started to walk away. As he turned around a squawking crow flew in his face. "Gah, get away stupid crow!" Booker whispered. The crow continued to squawk, as if trying to alert the men below.

"Who is there!?" yelled the robed leader. Booker turned around to see the entire group looking up at him.

"It is the False Shepherd! He has come to take away the Lamb! Destroy him brothers! Destroy him!" yelled the man on stage. Booker took out his pistol and began to fire at him.

Suddenly, a large number of crows flew around him and when they cleared he was gone. 'What the-," Booker started, but he was cut off by the yell of the robed zealots charging up the stairs to get him. He grabbed his machine gun and held it at the ready. As zealots came running up the stairs he blasted them with bursts from his machine gun. Booker heard a yell behind him, and he felt a club hit his head and he fell to the ground. When he turned he saw a robed figure standing over him, ready to hit him again. Thinking fast, Booker threw a fireball at the man's face. The man fell back, screaming in agony, and Booker quickly got up. He pulled struck the man with the butt of his gun and shot the man in the head. More zealots came running at him. Booker dispatched them quickly with a combo of machine gun fire and Devil's Kiss grenades.

Booker stood on the balcony panting. He was surrounded by the robed bodies of the zealots. He was just about to put his gun away when he heard a voice behind him. "I will not fail you my lady!" the voice yelled. Booker quickly turned to see a mass of crows coming at him. Booker readied him gun. The crows flew away to reveal the leader charging at him, wielding a deadly sword. "She tests us!" he yelled again as he swung at Booker with an overhead slash. Booker blocked the sword with his skyhook and put several rounds into the zealots stomach. The zealot fell to his knees whispering "Failure...failure..failure," before falling over dead.


	8. The Prophet

"I'm sorry, but all acess to the Monument Island has been forbidden by order of the Prophet. You have to go!" said the robotic gondola driver.

"Damn it!" yelled Booker. He hadn't come this far to get stopped by some stupid robot. He looked around the gondola for a manual override. "There's gotta be some way to get to that island," Booker muttered.

As if it heard Booker's frustration, the robotic man pointed out "All island personal should proceed to the island via skyline! Please see your administrator for more information!"

Booker noticed metal rails winding across the open space between him and Monument Island. "Skylines huh? Those things the cops used back at the raffle." Booker took out his skyhook. The claws started to slowly rotate and he could feel it pulling him towards the rail. "Well, hope this works!" Booker yelled as he jumped towards the rail. The skyhook latched on and started to propel him forward. "Whoa!" Booker yelled. It was like a roller coaster in the sky. Booker flew around on winding skylines until he saw a large group of police waiting for him. "Shit!" Booker yelled. He had nowhere to run or hide. Just as it seemed like it was all over for Booker DeWitt, a voice boomed over the loudspeaker.

"Put down your weapons! Stand down!"

To Booker's surprised, the police dropped their weapons and got down on one knee and began to pray. Booker landed near them. They ignored him as he walked by. Booker kept his gun ready just in case this was a trap. Seeing nowhere else to go, he pushed open a door into a nearby warehouse. Inside were more cops, also on one knee praying. He walked through the crowd onto a lift facing a large window. As he pulled the lever to go up a large airship pulled out in front of him, bearing the face of none other than Father Comstock.

"I know why you're here, False Shepherd!" his voice booming over the loudspeaker. "You seek to lead my Lamb astray, and for what? To repay a debt?"

How did he know Booker's intentions? Was he the one who had hired him? If so, why? Booker defensively responded "You don't know me, pal!"

"Prophecy is my business, Mr. DeWitt. Do you know why these men will die for me? Because I have seen their futures, and the glorious future that awaits them!"

"Nobody can tell the future! You lie to these men!" Booker yelled back.

Comstock laughed over the loudspeaker causing the entire building to shake. "I can see your future, Mr. DeWitt. I can see it and all the bloodshed it will bring. But they again, it always ends in blood with you doesn't it, Booker? It always ends in blood."

That last part gave Booker a massive headache, as if he was having extreme déjà vu. He swore he had heard that phrase before. _It always ends in blood_.

The lift came to the top floor and Booker got off. Comstock kept yelling at him.

"Leave False Shepherd! Leave and return to the Sodom from whence you came!"

Booker continued down a hallway, trying to find an exit, until the wall was ripped apart by a huge explosion. The airship was firing on him! Booker spotted a hook on the side of airship. He got a running start and lept from the building onto hook. Soldiers came running out to try and stop him. Booker jumped down from the hook, landing on top of one of the soldiers and hitting with the skyhook. He gunned down the rest with his machine gun. He walked inside, guns at the ready, but no one was inside. Where was Comstock? He opened the door to the cockpit and found a woman wearing a white robe praying in front a picture of Lady Comstock.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Booker assure her, but she didn't seem to notice him. Booker walked over to the controls, but before he could even touch the controls a smaller ship flew in front of him. Aboard it was Father Comstock, surrounded by more praying soldiers.

"The lord forgives everything," he began. He turned to glare at Booker "But I'm just the prophet, so I don't have to. Amen".

"Amen," Booker heard the woman behind him say. Booker turned to see her holding a torch above a pile of oil barrels.

Booker's eyes widened. "What are you-" he started but it was too late. The woman dropped the torch and the entire room went up in flame. "God damn it!" Booker yelled as he ran out of the cockpit, narrowly avoiding the fireball that erupted from the room. Booker looked around for a way out, but all the doors were blocked by walls of fire. Booker saw a level on the wall, with a sign above it reading _Storage Bay Door_ _Control_. He pulled the lever and the floor began to open up. Booker saw the airship was flying above a skyrail. He took a running leap and latched onto the skyrail, sliding to safety just as the airshift crashed into another building in a fiery explosion.

He saw a large sign ahead of him.

_Welcome to Monument Island_


	9. The Girl in the Tower

Booker found himself in an overgrown courtyard. There was a large gate with sentry towers blocking his path. "Why would they keep her in here? Doesn't seem the place to raise a little girl." There were no sentries on duty so Booker shot off the lock and opened the gate. Booker entered the tower and found himself in a round room filled with lockers. It appeared as if people had quickly packed up and left. Lockers were left open and empty and the whole room had an air of abandonment. Booker saw a large sign by a doorway that read Past this point: 1 hour quarantine. A red line was hastily painted on the floor, and whoever made it left their brush and paint. "Wonder what they are so afraid of?" Booker thought. He walked across the line and pushed open the doors. He was in a small dim hallway, flanked on both sides by strange machines. At the end of the hallway Booker saw a chalkboard with charts drawn on it. There were outlines of a body, each labeled with an age. He saw a picture of the girl taped to the board. "What the..." he said aloud. Booker kept walking, coming across more strange machines and more quarantine lines. He came into a room with several doors on either side. He entered the first one on his right. Inside was a projector playing a looped film of the girl trying to escape. "So she doesn't like her home, huh? That'll make it easier to get her out of here then,". He left and went into the next room. This room was dim and filled with pictures hanging out to dry. Each was of the girl. "They were watching her... but why?" He was getting more and more uneasy feeling that something wasn't right about this place. He continued into the next room, which appeared to be a medical facility. There was a chair covered with straps and beside sat a small tray containing many gruesome looking tools. "What were they doing to her?"

Booker opened the last door and entered a very large room with a massive ceiling. A huge, terrifying machine sat in the center. Booker heard singing from vents above him and the machine started beeping. Booker swore he saw the sound being drawn from the vents into the machine. It started to make loud noises as it came to life. "What did I drink before I came here?" Booker thought. He got out of that room as fast as he could. He came to an elevator with a sign above it that said Do not disturb the Specimen!" Booker boarded the elevator and hit the button to go up. The elevator started to rise rapidly. "Wonder how high this thing goes?" he wondered nervously. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Booker stepped out into a small room with metal walls and two windows. Through the window Booker could see a small empty bedroom. Booker looked at the room perplexed "They treat her like some kind of animal." Seeing no sign of the girl here, he opened the door to the next room. A glowing sign above the door informed him that The Specimen is present! Do not make any sound!. He entered quietly and looked through the window. Could she even see him? Did she even know she was being watched? The girl was standing in a library by a large window, looking outside longingly. She was humming the song that had brought the machine downstairs to life.

Booker saw no way into the room from where he was so he turned around and headed through another door. He climbed a ramp and then some stairs before entering a small circular room. Booker noticed a door on the other side of the room, but between him and the door was a large circular platform held up by two large chains. Booker pushed on the platform with his foot to test is strength. He found it to be sufficient so he slowly stepped out onto the hanging platform. He slowly made his way across to the door. "OK, just few more-" Suddenly one of the chains broke and Booker felt himself falling down into the library. He grabbed onto a ledge. He pulled himself up and found himself staring into the deep blue eyes of a terrified Elizabeth, who was tightly clutching a large book. "Hello," Booker said sheepishly. Elizabeth screamed and hit Booker's head with her book, sending him falling down to the floor below. Elizabeth ran down the stairs, pulling books off the wall and throwing them at Booker who was still laying on the ground. "Hey, stop that! I'm not here to hurt you!" Elizabeth grabbed a particularly heavy-looking tome and came running up to him. Holding the book above her head ready to strike, she asked "Who are you?"

"My name is DeWitt, I'm here to-"

Elizabeth tried to hit Booker with the book. Booker held out his arm and easily blocked her strikes. After several failed attempts, she dropped the book and stood there panting.

"Are you real?" She reached out to touch his face. She seemed to have calmed down now. Booker brushed her arm away. "I'm real enough," he said.

"Why are you here?" She asked as she picked up the books on the floor.

"I'm here to get you out of here," Booker said impatiently "Which I'd like to do soon."

Elizabeth looked up to see Booker tapping his foot with his arms crossed. "There is no way out of here, I've tried everything." she sighed. She pointed to the heavy metal door; the only exit. The door had two symbols on it: a bird and a cage. "Wait a minute..." Booker thought aloud. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a large key, with a bird and a cage symbol on the handle. Before he could show it to Elizabeth, the silence was broken by a piercing screech and a loud boom.

Booker looked at Elizabeth who looked at him in terror.  
"You have to hide, now!" She started to push him toward the door.

"Wait," Booker grabbed her hands "Why, what are you so scared of? What is that noise?" The screech came again, appearing closer.

"Just a minute!" Elizabeth shouted, presumably to whatever was making the noises. She turned to look at Booker. "It's his job to keep me here!"

Booker then remembered the key. He pulled it out of his pocket again. "How about this?"

"What about it?" Elizabeth said. She was frantically looking around as if she was afraid something was going to sneak up on them.

"It's the way out" Booker said casually.

"What do you-,"

She saw the key and grabbed it from Booker's hand. "Give me that!" She ran over to the metal door and stuck the key in the lock. The door freaked opened and Elizabeth slipped through. "Come on, this way!" She called back to him. Suddenly an alarm went off and Booker heard the screeching again. Booker pushed open the door and ran after Elizabeth. "Wait!"

They ran through the towers hallways. The screeching continued and something was smashing into the tower, causing it to shake. "Call the elevator!" Booker yelled to Elizabeth. "The what?" she yelled confused. "Hit the red button!" Booker yelled back. He ran into the room with the elevator just as Elizabeth hit the button. As they waited, she noticed the windows that looked into her room.

Elizabeth looked through the window into her room. She turned around looking shocked and angry. "They were watching me?" she cried "What am I? What am I!" Booker couldn't think of an answer, so just responded "You're the girl who's getting out of this tower!"

Suddenly a huge mechanical head burst through the elevator doors. Elizabeth screamed and ran to Bookers side and hide behind him. A large yellow eye looked around the room until it spotted Booker. The eye's color changed to red and the monster let out a screech as it tried to muscle it's way through the wall. Elizabeth hide her face in Booker's back and Booker pulled out his pistol.

Ding! The elevator slammed into the beasts head. It let out a screech before pulling back and disappearing. Booker let out a sigh of relief and holstered his gun. He looked down at Elizabeth. She still had her head buried into his back, her arms wrapped around his torso. "It's safe now. That thing is gone now."

She poked an eye out to look around before she let go of Booker. "What was that thing?" he asked her, walking over to the elevator door to look around.

"That was the songbird." she said grimly. "He is my warden and he won't stop until I am locked away again" She started to cry softly.

Booker felt his heart sink. The poor girl had been locked up in that tower all by herself for so long, and now that she was out such great lengths were being taken to put her back. Booker resolved that he wouldn't let that happen, not just for his sake but for hers as well. He was sure that whatever awaited her in New York would be better than what she had here anyway. He walked over to Elizabeth and put his hand on her shoulder. "Come on Elizabeth, lets get out of here," She looked up at him with tear-stained eyes "How do you know my name?"

He was about to tell her but decided that it was better she not know, at least for now. "It's not important right now. We need to get going before that thing comes back." She followed him across a fallen beam that had fallen when the bird had left over to an emergency staircase. The stairs leading down had been crushed by the bird. "Well, I guess we're going up" he said with a sigh. They walked up the stairs until they came to a door. Booker opened it up and almost had a heart attack when he saw it lead to a narrow path along the towers exterior. He took a deep breath "Come on, this way." They made their way slowly along the path, Elizabeth tightly holding Booker's jacket. "Don't look down," he said jokingly. She looked at him puzzled "Why?" Booker chuckled slightly "Just don't" Despite his warning, Elizabeth leaned slightly forward to look down. Seeing just how high up they were made her yelp and grab Booker's jacket even tighter. Booker laughed again. Finally, they arrived on the roof of the tower. "Now what?" Elizabeth asked Booker expectantly. Booker had no idea what to do. "Uh, we should probably-" he started to say but he was cut off by a loud screech. "Shit," Booker muttered.

They looked up to see Songbird flying straight at them from above. Booker could clearly see the beast now. It was large, probably 30-40 feet tall and covered entirely in leather. It had a pair of large wings as well as hands, armed with clawed gauntlets. The bird let out another war cry, bringing Booker back to his senses. He frantically looked around for somewhere to go. He spotted a skyline below them. He looked back at Elizabeth who was still staring mesmerized at the bird. He quickly grabbed Elizabeth around the waist with one arm and lept off the tower with his Skyhook ready in the other arm. Elizabeth started to scream and she realized what was happening. They hit the skyline hard and Booker lost his grip on Elizabeth. He managed to grab her hand before she fell. The songbird continued to pursue them, smashing airships and buildings alike to get to them. Booker looked forward again and realized that Songbird had destroyed one of the platforms holding up the skyline. They were rapidly approaching the end of the tracks and there was nothing below them but clouds.

Suddenly Booker felt water rushing around him. Had they fell into the ocean? Booker couldn't see Elizabeth anywhere and his heavy clothes and guns prevented him from floating to the surface. Booker tried to swim towards the surface when suddenly Songbird came crashing down from above. Songbird reached out to grab him, but oddly Songbird doubled over in pain. He tried to reach for Booker again, but one of its eyes cracked and the beast cried out in pain. The creature flew away, the force pushing Booker further under. That was the last thing Booker saw before he blacked out.


	10. Battleship Bay

"Booker!" Elizabeth yelled. She was standing over Booker's lifeless body as it lay on the beach. He was pale and wasn't breathing. Elizabeth quickly tried to remember what she had read in her medical books about CPR. She put his arms above his head and started to do compressions. "Come on Mr. DeWitt don't die on me!" she said as tears began to fall down her face. She couldn't bear the thought of being all alone again, especially with Songbird after her.

Suddenly Booker began to cough. His eyes opened to see Elizabeth's concerned face looking down at him. "Where am I?" he weakly asked

Elizabeth sighed with relief "Back in the land of the living," she replied with a smile.

She stood up to try and helped Booker stand up but he waved her away. "I'm fine, I just need a minute," he said wearily.

Elizabeth gave him a concerned looked "You almost drowned, you need to-"

"I'm fine." Booker sharply responded. She gave him a frustrated look before letting him be.

Booker lay back on the sand, closing his eyes. He heard music coming from somewhere.

"Is that..? Music?" Elizabeth exclaimed excitedly. She wanted to go and find its source, but she knew she couldn't abandon Booker on the beach. Not after he had rescued her from Songbird.

Booker could sense that she wanted to go. "Go on, I'll be fine." he told her.

Elizabeth's face lit up. "Really? I mean, OK!" she said, clearly surprised by his response.

"I won't be long Mr. DeWitt, I won't be long!" she called as she happily skipped away.

Booker sighed and lay back again. He could feel the waves gently bumping into him and he soon fell asleep again.

Booker woke up again some time later. At first he wasn't sure where he was and he quickly jumped up, but soon he remembered what had transpired. He looked around the small floating beach. He didn't see Elizabeth anywhere, but he could hear music. "Where did she get too?" Booker said as he started to walk towards the music. As he walked he noticed a sign advertising the First Lady Airship. "Airship huh? That could be our ticket out of here." Booker made a mental note to locate this airship later. First, he had to find Elizabeth. He saw a group of people dancing to music on a small dock by the beach. He decided to check if she was over there. As he got closer the group spread out to reveal Elizabeth dancing in the center. Booker walked across the dock calling her. "Miss? Excuse me, Miss? Hello!" he called but she didn't hear him. He walked up to the group and called her again "Elizabeth!"

She heard him this time and spun around to face him. She had a huge smile on her face. "Hello!" she said.

"Come on Elizabeth, we have to get going."

Elizabeth turned to look at him again. "Come dance with me Mr. DeWitt!" She grabbed Booker's hands and pulled him into the group. They started spinning around with each other. Elizabeth kept smiling at Booker, but he was not having fun. "Elizabeth, I can't dance," he protested.

"What are you talking about? You're doing great!"

"I mean I don't dance," he corrected.

Elizabeth let go of Booker and twirled around once. "Why?" she asked him with a smile "What could be better than this!" Booker opened his mouth to say something about how they needed to get going so they could avoid Comstock's men, but he closed it. This was not the place to be discussing such things. He sighed. "I don't know," he responded sheepishly.

Elizabeth laughed and grabbed his arm. "OK, we'll go do something else then!" Sge pulled him towards the Arcade. The arcade was full of people, kids and adults alike. Elizabeth ran over to one of the machines. "Flawless flintlock!" she said in amazement. Booker looked at the peculiar machine. It had two stuffed dolls with strings attached to their limbs. When Elizabeth pushed a button they came to life. "I read this one was delayed 3 times!" she said. When the show was over, Elizabeth turned around and her eyes widened. "Cotton candy!" she exclaimed. She ran over to the man holding the treat and asked him if she could have some.

"Sure, young miss! Just 1 silver eagle for some delicious cotton candy!" he said cheerily.

"Oh," Elizabeth said disappointed "I don't have any money. Could I have a taste, I've never had cotton candy-"

"No money!" the man cut her off. His voice changed from cheery to angry. "Look lady, if you want handouts, go talk to the prophet. No money, no candy!" He turned around briskly and walked away. Booker saw Elizabeth's head slump as he walked away. Something about seeing her upset filled Booker with anger. He didn't understand these feelings, after all she was just his bargaining chip to get out of debt, right? Despite his best efforts to suppress these feelings, they overwhelmed him. Booker marched over to the salesman, who was now standing in the corner discreetly drinking some whisky, and grabbed his collar. The man was dwarfed by Booker's imposing 6 foot stature, and he looked up at Booker with terrified eyes. "Wha-what do you want mister?" he stammered. He looked past Booker to see Elizabeth learning against the wall. "Oh, is that your friend over there?" he asked, still trembling. Booker continued to glare at him.

"H-how about I give you each one cotton candy? On the house? Good, yes?" he smiled weakly at Booker. Booker snorted and put him down. The man quickly grabbed two sticks of cotton candy from his box and handed them to Booker. Booker snatched them from the mans hands and glared at him. "Don't let me catch you ever talking to her like that again!" he snarled. The man's face turned red as he picked up his things and quickly walked away, checking behind him to see if Booker was following him. As soon as the man was out of sight, Booker let out a deep breath. He couldn't believe he had just done that. He could have just blown their cover and for what, candy?

Booker walked over to where Elizabeth was standing. When she saw him approach with the candy, her face brightened and she got a big smile on her face. Booker handed her one of the sticks and she happily accepted it. Booker took a piece of his candy and put it into his mouth. He looked over to Elizabeth, who was studying the candy. She appeared to be unsure how to eat it. Booker chuckled and told her "Just grab some with your hand and put it in your mouth,"

She grabbed some of the fluffy sugar and pushed in her mouth. Her eyes lit up as she tasted the sugar. She immediately began to stuff as much cotton candy as she could into her mouth. Booker chuckled "Slow down, you don't have to eat it so fast,"

She ignored him and quickly finished her candy. She looked satisfied. She looked down at her hands and frowned; They were covered with sticky sugar. She ran off to find a bathroom to wash her hands. Booker finished his candy and wiped his hands on his pants. Elizabeth soon came running back over to him.

"OK, time to get moving." Booker informed her.

"Wait,"

Booker turned to look at Elizabeth. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"We're going to get on the First Lady Airship," he said pointing to a sign on the wall "We can use it to get out of the city."

Elizabeth didn't seem satisfied by this answer. "But where will we go?"

Booker thought about this question for a moment before answering. "Anywhere you want," he replied. Elizabeth's eyes lit up. "Even...Paris?" she asked nervously, unsure of how he would answer.

Paris? Why did she want to go to Paris? It didn't matter, if she came with him he'd tell her whatever she wanted to hear. "Sure, we can go to Paris if you want."

Elizabeth put a bounce in her step as they walked to the gondola station. Booker felt bad for lying to her but he knew he had to put the job before his feelings. Feelings only complicated things.

"Annabelle?"

A woman wearing a black leather jacket walked up to them. Elizabeth looked confused "Excuse me?" she said puzzled.

"It's me, Ester! Don't you remember me?" the woman continued.

"My name is Elizabeth, you must have me mixed up with someone else."

"Elizabeth... What a pretty name," the woman said as she walked away.

"That was odd," Elizabeth said to Booker

"You shouldn't give away your name so freely. We're trying to avoid being caught, remember?

Elizabeth frowned. "It was just some woman, Mr. DeWitt. I doubt she is out to get us."

"Anyone could be a spy, we have to be careful."

She sighed. "Fine, I'll try to be more careful."

They walked into the gondola ticket station. As they walked in, Booker noticed that all the people seemed to be looking at them. "Something doesn't feel right about this," Booker quietly said to himself. They approached the man behind the counter; he was talking on the phone.

"Two tickets for the First Lady Airship," Booker said.

The man looked at him but didn't respond.

Booker tapped the desk bell. "Kind of in a hurry here, buddy." he said impatiently.

The man turned to look at him, putting down the phone. "Sorry for the wait!" he yelled as he pulled down the booth window on Booker's hand. Booker yelled in pain. The rest of the people in the room pulled out guns and aimed them at Booker. A man grabbed Elizabeth and started to pull her away. "I've got the girl! Kill the false shepherd!" Booker pulled his hand free and dove into cover, narrowly avoiding a volley of bullets. Booker shot from behind cover and took out a few of the attackers.

"Eat some of this!" a loud voice yelled.

Booker turned to see a large man standing behind him, holding a shotgun aimed at Booker's head. The man fired and Booker closed his eyes, bracing himself for death.

Bang! Booker heard the gunshot, but death never came. He opened his eyes and looked at himself. His skin glowed a yellowish color. The shield must have saved him again. The man holding the shotgun seemed just as surprised. Booker used this opportunity to his advantage, kicking the man backwards and then hitting him with a fireball. The man screamed as he disintegrated into a pile of ash.

Booker heard Elizabeth yelling and he looked to see her struggling as a man tried to pull her away. "Come on miss, stop struggling!

"Let me go!" She yelled as she slapped the man's face.

"Oi! That hurt, you little bitch!" He slapped Elizabeth back and she fell to the ground.

Seeing Elizabeth get hurt caused a rage to build up in Booker. He grabbed the shotgun from the dead man's ashes and charged at the other man. The man turned and saw Booker running at him. "Shit!" he yelled as he tried to run away. Booker slammed into him with his shoulder, sending the man flying to a wall. Booker walked over to the man and started beating him with the butt of his shotgun. "How do you like it, you little bitch!" he roared in anger.

"Booker, stop it!"

Booker turned to look at Elizabeth, his face still red with anger. She was laying on the ground crying. Booker looked back at the man, who had slumped over dead from the beating. Booker ran over to Elizabeth to try and help her up, but she pushed him away.

"You killed those people!" She cried, tears streaming from her eyes. Booker looked around him and suddenly he understood. He was covered with blood, both his and others, and the ground was littered with bodies. To someone who had never been around death or violence, he must have seemed terrifying.

Booker knelt down so he was at eye level with Elizabeth. She looked at him but turned away again, "You're a monster."

He remembered the first time he saw death up close. Booker had run away from home and enlisted in the army at just age 15. He was assigned to the 7th Cavalry regiment, under Lt. Col. Custer. They were on patrol when they came upon a settlement of Indians. Custer ordered the Indians hand over all of their weapons. The natives were resistant, and someone fired a shot. A fight erupted and the natives were massacred. Booker must have killed dozens of Indians, but he couldn't remember exactly. It all happened so fast, and it wasn't until after the fighting had stopped did the gravity of what he did sunk in. From that day forward Booker was a hardened man, immune to the effects of violence and death. It changed him, for better or worse, into a killing machine. A monster.

Booker tried to find the words to comfort Elizabeth, but he kept coming up blank. "Elizabeth, I..."

"It's not the last of it, is it?" She interrupted him as she stood up.

"No, I doubt it is." He responded with a melancholy tone.

He avoided her sad eyes by looking at the ground. Something about this girl made him regret his life, regret ever coming here and dragging her into this mess. "Let's go," he said, still not looking at her as he walked towards the gondola.

Suddenly he felt someone grabbing his arm. He turned around and Elizabeth wrapped her arms around him, hugging him. "Thank you, Mr. DeWitt. For protecting me." She smiled weakly up at him. "You're a good man."

Booker was shocked. Was this the same girl who has seconds ago called him a monster? Booker felt ashamed; if only she knew what he had done, she might not think he was such a good man. She let go of him and they continued on towards the gondola.

Booker the hero. He laughed softly to himself. Yeah right.


	11. Soldier's Field

After a short ride on the gondola, the two companions found themselves at Soldier's Field. Half amusement park, half war museum; Soldier's Field was filled with shops, rides, and other military themes attractions.

Booker found a bathroom to go wash the blood out of his clothes and Elizabeth went off to explore the shops. "Be careful, Elizabeth" he warned. "If anything happens, find me."

She nodded understandingly and happily skipped away towards the pier. Booker walked into the restroom to wash off his bloodstained vest. As he held the vest under the running water, he noticed the brand that had got him caught at the raffle. _AD_ was all it said. What did that mean? Booker couldn't even remember where he got it from, let alone how the people of Columbia knew he had it. He couldn't remember much before the lighthouse, everything before that point seemed fuzzy, and it made his head hurt. He decided it wasn't worth thinking about; he was here now and there was nothing he could do to change that. After he finished washing as much blood as he could out of his vest, Booker splashed water on his face and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He looked older than he remembered; he had bags under his eyes and his skin was roughed up and scratched. He thought he could use a shave, too. Before he left, he wrapped his hand loosely with his neckerchief and stepped out of the bathroom, refreshed and ready to go.

Booker walked across the pier, taking in the sights but also keeping his eyes open for Elizabeth. There were so many people here; how was he going to find her in this sized crowd? He shouldn't have let her run off alone, for all he knew she could have been captured. As if sensing his worry, Elizabeth called his name from a table in front of a cafe. He sighed with relief as he briskly walked over to her. She was sitting alone, drinking tea and eating a cookie. She smiled as he sat down. He carefully sat down; his back was still sore from all the fighting. He leaned back to stretch out his back.

"Are you hurt?" Elizabeth asked with concern in his voice.

"No, I'm fine," he said as he sat back up "Did you find the Airship?"

"Yes," she answered, happy to help in anyway she could. "It's over there". She pointed to a floating platform. Booker looked where she was pointing and saw the First Lady docking at the station. "We'd better hurry," he said as he started to stand up.

Elizabeth grabbed his hand and pulled him back down. "Wait, don't you want to something?"

Booker looked into the cafe. His throat felt dry and his stomach grumbled. He was hungry and thirsty, there was no denying it. "You need to keep up your strength." Elizabeth added with a smile.

"I guess you're right." he said reluctantly. He walked into the cafe and ordered a beer. Elizabeth shot him a look of disappointment. Booker looked at her and shrugged. She shook her head. Booker sighed and canceled his order. He ordered a coffee instead. She was probably right, he needed his wits about him. The man behind the counter handed him a steaming hot cup of coffee. Booker thanked him, payed him, and started to walk back to the table.

"Hey, you gonna pay for your daughter over there pal?" the owner called after him. Booker froze and turned around. My daughter? He saw the man pointing at Elizabeth. "Oh, sorry." he awkwardly said. "How much does she owe?"

"Five silver eagles."

Booker payed the man and sat back down at the table. Elizabeth giggled.

"What's so funny?" Booker asked defensively.

"That man thought I was your daughter!" she was laughing now.

Booker felt blood running to his face, making him turn red. "But you're not, so it doesn't matter." Booker retorted quickly. He didn't think about how people might see them, but at least the man didn't think they were married. "Lets just forget this ever happened." Booker said, trying to hide the fact he was blushing.

Elizabeth noticed and laughed even more. "I think its hilarious, I mean we don't even look alike? Right?"

Desperately wanting to end this conversation, Booker stood up with a start and said "OK, we've wasted enough time. We got to get moving or we'll miss the airship." Elizabeth stopped laughing and looked up at him.

"But, you didn't finish your drink."

Booker looked at his coffee. He hadn't taken a single sip. "I'll drink it on the way there. Now come on!" he said, motioning for her to follow him.

She stood up, wiped her mouth, and threw away her trash before skipping after Booker, whistling as she went. They arrived at the airship's docking station when Booker realized they didn't have tickets. He had forgot all about tickets after the commotion at the ticket booth. He walked up to the small ticket booth but the man told this was the last ride of the day and they were sold out. He recommended they wait until tomorrow and get here early. Booker watched with disappointment as the Airship departed with the last group of passengers.

Elizabeth tugged on Booker's jacket and pointed to a sign. _Come see Columbia's Hall of Heroes and watch history come to life! _the sign boasted. There were drawings of soldiers shooting at cowering Indian and Chinese soldiers. Booker looked at the sign puzzled. Why would she want to go there?

"I've read about Columbia's history in my books," she said, almost jumping up and down with excitement. "But I have never _seen_ history before! We can't get to the airship today, so can we go the Hall of Heroes! Pleeease, Mr. DeWitt?". She looked at him with her big blue eyes gleaming in the moonlight.

"Elizabeth we can't just-" he started but he stopped when Elizabeth's smile disappeared.

She gave him a pouty face. "Why not! Why are you so against having fun?"

"I'm not, it's just-"

Elizabeth tapped her foot and stared at him expectantly. "Look I just don't want to go, OK?"

"Well if you won't come with me, I'll just go alone!" she said defiantly. She marched off towards the museum.

"Elizabeth wait!" he called after her, but she ignored him. Booker sighed as he walked after her. He was letting her drag him into trouble again, he could just feel it.


	12. Hall of Memories

"Will the circle be unbroken, by and by, by and by..." Elizabeth hummed as she skipped towards the Hall of Heroes. She was a bit disappointed that Booker did not want to come with her, but she wasn't going to let him ruin her fun. She looked up at the moonlit sky and closed her eyes. "I wonder if this is what the sky looks like in Paris?" she wondered.

Suddenly she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. She yelped and her eyes shot open as she whipped around to see who had grabbed her.

She sighed in relief when she saw it was Booker, who was bending over panting.

"You-" he started to say but stopped to catch his breath. "You are a hard girl to catch!" he finally said. Together they walked over to the entrance to the Hall of Heroes, Elizabeth still humming as they went. Booker thought it was annoying, but he decided it wasn't worth arguing about it. She would probably win anyway. They arrived at the door to find it locked with a heavy metal lock chaining the doors together.

Sorry, we're closed! the sign read.

Booker sighed with relief. "Well, I guess we can't go. Sorry Elizabeth."

Before he could turn around, Elizabeth pulled something of her hair and inserted into the lock.

"What are you doing?" Booker whispered.

Elizabeth whispered back "You're a roguish type, what does it look like I'm doing?"

She sharply turned the pin and the lock fell hard on the floor. Booker stared at the lock in amazement. "Where did you learn to do that?" he said.

"Locked away in a tower with nothing but books and spare time; you'd be surprised what I know how to do!" said playfully as she motioned for Booker to open the door. He pushed opened the heavy door and they slipped inside.  
"It's dark in here," Elizabeth said, grabbing a hold of Booker's hand.

"Well, you want to break into buildings at night you're going to have to get used to it." Booker said snarkily. Elizabeth wandered over to a switch and pulled on it. "Maybe this turns on the lights," she whispered.

A robotic statue of George Washington came to life and began to spout propaganda about Columbia's great glorious battles. Elizabeth jumped back in fright, bumping into Booker who gave her a puzzled look. "I don't like robots" she said sheepishly as they continued on.

Suddenly, light poured in through the windows and a loud voice boomed over a loudspeaker. "Cornelius Slate, traitor to Columbia and her people, come out with your hands up! "

"Shit, cops!" Booker whispered. He lead Elizabeth through a doorway into a large high ceiling room. Statues flanked both sides of the room, and in the center stood a massive statue of Comstock. Elizabeth walked over to read the plaque on the statue.

Out Prophet, Father Comstock, Commander of the 7th Cavalry it read.

Booker laughed. "That man did not command the 7th, I don't even think he was there." he stopped laughing when he realized what he just said. He looked to Elizabeth who was now staring at him.

"How do you know that?" she asked him with a puzzled look. Then her eyes grew wide and she exclaimed "You were there weren't you!"

Booker couldn't get out of this conversation with a lie, so he reluctantly answered "Yes..."

He expected Elizabeth to be horrified to find out he was a soldier, but instead she just smiled at him. "Maybe we'll see you in one of the exhibits!" she said excitedly.

"God, I hope not," Booker said under his breath.

Suddenly, the doors slammed shut behind them and a bright spotlight shone down on them. "Shh," Booker whispered to Elizabeth. "Theres going to be trouble".

A voice came booming down from above. "Followers of the false Prophet, Comstock will-" the voice stopped abruptly, as if confused.

"Is that..? Corporal DeWitt is that you down there? It is you isn't it!" the voice echoed throughout the room.

"Slate, is that you?" Booker shouted up towards the light. He held his hand up to block the light, but he couldn't see who was holding the spotlight.

Slate laughed heartily. "Captain Cornelius Slate, at your service!"

Booker laughed uneasily "Look, I see you're in a bit of jam here, so if you could see fit to let us out of here we'll just be on our way."

"You've always been different haven't you, Booker. You crave no glory." Slate continued.

"There's no glory in killing!" Booker yelled up to Slate. "Just let us go, Slate."

Booker was getting nervous. Slate had always been half a hero and half a fool, and Booker wasn't sure which side was more dangerous.

"The tin-soldier, Comstock wants my boys and I dead! But we won't die at his hands!" Slate began to yell. "All my men have two choices: die at the hands of a tin-soldier, or a real one!"

Soldier's dress in red white and blue burst into the room, guns blazing. Booker pushed Elizabeth behind some cover and started to shoot at the attackers. He threw a fireball into a group of soldiers with Devil's Kiss. The soldiers started to scream and the fire burned them alive. Booker hopped Elizabeth wasn't watching; this would only traumatize her even more. After Booker finished off the rest of the soldiers, Slate came back over the loudspeaker.

"You see! You're a killer Booker, like it or not!"

"Just let us go Slate, I have no quarrel with these men!" Booker shouted.

Slate's voice got quieter. "If you want out of here alive, you will give my men a soldier's death. They wait for you at Wounded Knee and Peking."

Booker fell on his knees. Wounded Knee. Images and sounds started to flood Booker's mind. He had tried so hard to forget them, but he knew he couldn't ever forget what he did. Elizabeth ran over to him. "Are you hurt?" she asked with a worried voice. She was still shaken up by the violence. "No, i'm fine Elizabeth." he stood up.

"Who was that man?" Elizabeth asked Booker.

"Who, Slate? He was my old commanding officer when I was in the army. A good man, but a little overzealous as you can see," he said, motioning to the dead soldiers covering the floor.  
They walked through the now open door into a round room. Archways with signs above them lead to the three main exhibits.

Wounded Knee, Lady Comstock, and The Boxer Rebellion the signs read.

"I read about those things," Elizabeth said "Which one should we go to first?"

Booker looked down the hallway leading to the Wounded Knee and shuttered. "Lets go there first," he said, pointing towards the Boxer Rebellion exhibit. As they walked over to the exhibit's entrance, they began to hear oriental music and fake snow began to blow around them. Cutouts of stylized chinese soldiers making scary faces were all around them. As they walked under the archway, a chinese cutout came from above and scare Elizabeth. Booker instinctively pulled out his gun, but put it away after he realized it was just a cutout. "A little jumpy, are we?" he said playfully. Elizabeth gave him a pouty face and crossed her arms in mock anger.

They made their way to a large open room with more chinese cut-outs surrounding the area. A large statue of Comstock sat on the ground holding a Colombian flag in one hand and a raised gun in the other. Behind it was a mural of Columbia, floating in as if to the save the day. "I remember reading about this is one of my books," Elizabeth said "Comstock lead the Columbian forces into-"

"Comstock wasn't there!" Slates voice boomed over the sound system. The Boxers took my good eye and thirty of my best men! Is there even a stone to mark that sacrifice!"

Some of the cutouts moved away and revealed more of Slate's men who immediately began to shoot at Booker. "A soldier's death!" they shouted as they charged into battle. Booker swiftly took them down with a combo of machine gun fire and fireballs.

After the battle, Slate came back onto the intercom. "You did them a favor Booker. You let them die like men."

Booker angrily shouted back "I didn't ask for this, Slate! I didn't want to kill them, or anyone!"

Slate chuckled. "Heroes never ask, Booker."

"I didn't claim to be a hero!"

"Then what are you?" Slate retorted. "If you strip away all the parts of Booker DeWitt to tried to wash away, what's left?"

Booker opened his mouth to retort but Slate had already left. Elizabeth ran over to him from her hide place. "What did he mean by that?" she asked him, starting in his eyes. "What did you try to wash away." Booker looked into her eyes, but quickly turned away. In her eyes he saw a innocent little girl, and he was certain all she could see in his was a killer. "Look, Elizabeth, I don't want to talk about?" he said without looking at her. He felt Elizabeth's eyes watching him.

"Why not?" She said calmly "You've obviously been holding this in for many years and all it's brought you is pain." He felt her soft hand on his shoulder. "Why don't you want to let it all out?"

She was right, he knew it. He had been holding it all in for 20 years and it was eating him alive from the inside out, but now was the not the time. If he told her, she'd hate him and he needed her. "Somethings just need to remain unsaid," Booker responded coldly. Elizabeth looked hurt by his comment. He didn't like to hurt her feelings like this, but she needed to keep her distance or she might really get hurt. They walked out of the exhibit back into the rotunda.

"Next stop is the Battle of Wounded Knee," Elizabeth pointed out, trying to be helpful. Booker shuttered at the name. They walked through the exhibit hallway, which was flanked by native american cutouts and tall grass. They entered another large open room, this time with a large statue of Comstock heroically standing in the middle, surrounded by native americans.

"You-you were there, weren't you?" Elizabeth nervously said "I can see it in your eyes." Booker didn't hear her, he just sat starting as images flooded his mind. He was brought back to his senses by Slate's voice.

"Tell her, Booker!" he yelled "Tell her how we strode that battlefield like the heroes of Sparta!"  
Elizabeth turned to look at Booker, but he hung his head in shame. Suddenly, the cutouts moved to reveal more of Slate's men. "Here is the man I told you about! The kind of man Comstock wishes he was!"

The soldier's charged Booker, but he was too fast. He quickly dispatched them; a shotgun blast to the face, a fireball to another, and a skyhook finisher to the last one. After the fight was over, Booker was covered with blood and the floor of the exhibit was littered with bodies.

"You see, young miss? This is the kind of man Comstock wishes he was!" Slates voice rang out.

"I don't want to do this, Slate! Just let us go!" Booker yelled.

"Not yet, Booker. There is still work to be done."

"Damnit, Slate!" Booker fell to his knees. Elizabeth ran over to him. "Booker, what's wrong?" she cried.

Booker couldn't look at her, not like this. "What would you do, if you woke up one day and realized you didn't like the choices you made?" he said, still crying.

"Oh, Booker!" she wrapped her hands around his head and hugged him. "A choice is better than none, no matter what the outcome. Talk to me Booker, what's the matter?"

Booker couldn't hold in the pain any longer, he had to tell someone. He looked up into her innocent blue eyes and said "Elizabeth, what I've done can not be forgiven."

She looked at him confused "What do you mean?"

"I've killed people; innocent people have died by my hands in the name of everything from glory to money." He looked away from her. "How can I live with myself knowing I had a choice and made the wrong decision?"

He waited for her to jump back in horror and call him a monster. He waited for her to scream and run away. He waited for something to happen, but nothing did. Instead, he felt Elizabeth hugging him again. "Booker, you need to let it go." she said "You need to forgive yourself or you'll never be able to move on with your life."

"But-"

"But nothing. You are a good man, Mr. DeWitt. You're just lost, thats all."

Booker had calmed down now. He stood up and looked at Elizabeth who was standing next to him, weakly smiling at him. He smiled back. How could this girl do what 20 years of psychiatrists, rehab, and hard liquor had failed to do? Booker was beginning to regret that he'd have to trade Elizabeth for his debts. "Wherever their taking her going, its probably a hell of alot better than here," he kept telling himself, but his resolve was weakening.


	13. The Death of our Lady

Booker heard the police start to break into the entrance of the museum. He and Elizabeth hurried to the last exhibit, labeled The First Lady. Booker pushed open the door and was greeted by lovely music and a large painting of Lady Comstock starting back at him. Past the painting was a small indoor garden with a fountain in the middle.

"The seed of our Prophet lay in the womb of our lady but for a single week," Elizabeth read from the plaque. "Comstock had a child? My books never mentioned that."

Elizabeth moved to read the second plaque. "But the child took ill, and the Lady prayed for the Prophet's heir, day and night" She looked at Booker with a confused look, but he just shrugged.

They continued into the next room. "Hey," Elizabeth said, pointing to a miniature of her tower "Thats my tower!" Comstock's voice came over the speaks, and Booker readied his gun but it was just a recording.

"Lo, while the fiend Daisy Fitzroy may have taken my beloved wife, she shall not have the child! She shall not become between her and prophecy!"

Booker looked over at Elizabeth who was staring dumbstruck at the statue. "Am I-," she stuttered, unable to finish her own sentence.

"You're Comstock's daughter" Booker finished for her.

"I can't be, I can't!" Elizabeth yelled.

"He wants you to follow in his footsteps." Booker walked over to try and console her.

"No!" she yelled and ran off to the next room.

"Elizabeth, wait!" Booker called after her. He found her curled up in a ball in a maintenance closet. Her head was buried into her legs and she was crying. Booker kneeled down next to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Why, Booker? Why would my own father lock me up in the horrible tower?" she said between her tears.

Booker tried to think of an explanation, but he couldn't "I don't know, Elizabeth. I really don't know." She began to cry again. Booker looked out the closet door and saw Comstock's face staring down at him. He frowned. He took out his gun and blew the head of the statue. Elizabeth looked up, startled by the noise and saw what he had done. She looked at him and he looked back at her. "We're going to make him pay".

She looked up at him with widened eyes before leaping up and wrapping her arms around him. "Thank you, Booker. I mean it" she said. They stood up and walked into the next room. A statue of Daisy Fitzroy stood hiding behind a wall, preparing to take out the statue of Lady Comstock who was kneeling just 15 feet away. "I read about her," Elizabeth said looking at Fitzroy's statue "She is the leader of the Vox Populi and a wanted anarchist." They continued to walk through the exhibit until they came to an outside courtyard. There was a locked gate, but Booker shot it off with his shotgun. Suddenly, Columbian police ships started to descend from the sky.

"Come out with your hands up, Slate! We have you surrounded!" shouted one of the soldiers.

"You'll never take this old wardog down tin-man!" Slate shouted back. "Come on boys! Lets show them how real soldiers fight!"

Police began to rappel down from their ships but Slate's men shot most of them before they got to the ground. The few that did reach the ground were massacred. Booker and Elizabeth tried to use the chaos to sneak around the fight but Slate spotted them. "Sneaking around like a rat in a gutter? You're not the Booker DeWitt I remember! Tin-man! Tin-man!"

"The False Shepherds here too?" shouted one of Comstock's soldiers and a bright searchlight was shown on Booker and Elizabeth.

"Shit!" Booker yelled as he grabbed Elizabeth and pulled her towards the exit.

"Its the False Shepherd! Get him boys!"

"Kill the tin-man!"

Both factions stopped shooting each other to chase Booker. Booker was frantically opening doors as they went, hoping to find an exit soon. They came running out onto a balcony overlooking Soldier's Field.

"We got him surrounded! Get him!" someone yelled. Booker noticed a maintenance skyrail leading down. He couldn't see where it went, but it didn't matter. He grabbed Elizabeth and jumped off the ledge. They started to slide down the skyline at amazing speeds. Booker heard bullets fly bye and shouts coming from behind them, but he kept his eyes forward. Good thing too, because he saw a Colombian warship flying straight at them. Thinking fast, Booker jumped from the skyline onto a passing barge. They hid inside one of the empty boxes as the warship passed them. Elizabetht held onto Booker's arm in fear and Booker kept his hand on his pistol just in case. He had no idea whose ship they were on, but it didn't matter. He wasn't letting anyone hurt Elizabeth.

**Note: I know its shorter than the rest, but bear with me. Yes, Elizabeth and Booker are closer than they were in the game and I know it makes less sense, but its alot harder to avoid it than you might think! The next chapter will have a different sequence of events than the game but will have a similar outcome, so stay tuned :)**


	14. The Voice of the People

Elizabeth slowly woke up to find herself surrounded by darkness. She tried to move but something was holding onto her. At first she panicked; had she been caught by Comstock's men? She tried to break free from whatever was holding her, but she stopped when her efforts were greeted by a low groan. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she realized that it was Booker who was holding onto her. His arm was tightly wrapped around her and his other was resting on his lap, still clutching his pistol. Elizabeth sighed with relief. Booker was still fast asleep and she was still tired too. She decided a few more minutes wouldn't hurt, so she curled back up next to Booker and nestled her head on his chest. Booker, still asleep, let out a deep sigh and tightened his hold on her.

Elizabeth felt truly safe for the first time in years. As she lay there, she remembered her time locked up in the tower. In her younger years, she loved Songbird. He would bring her books when she was bored and sing for her when she was lonely. When a storm came and she was scared, Songbird would hold her in his large hands and coo softly until she fell asleep.

That all changed when she got older and realized Songbird was as much her warden was he was her friend. Songbird would punish her for every escape attempt and foil her attempts to be truly alone. She learned to hate him, and to dread his song. Songbird represented protection and safety, but also oppression and order. Booker was different. He too represented protection, but he also gave her freedom. She felt truly safe with him and never wanted to leave his side.

Suddenly, a loud noise came from outside their box and Booker woke up with a start. "What's happening?" Booker whispered, bring his pistol up to ready.

"I don't know!" Elizabeth whispered back with a terrified look in her eyes.

They heard the sound again, this time closer. They heard voices now, but they couldn't make out what they were saying.

_Thud!_

Elizabeth held onto Booker's arm in fear and Booker cocked his pistol. The sounds were getting closer.

_Thud!_

This time the noise came from right outside their box. They could understand the voices this time. "Ah bloody hell! There's nothin' in this one either!" shouted a voice with a Irish accent.

"Keep looking, there's gotta be something in one of these boxes." answered another voice.

Booker held out his gun with one hand and wrapped the other around Elizabeth. The front of their box was torn off and a bright light shined down on them. The two voices turned out to be two men, one Irish and one black, wearing red face paint.

"Oi! Who are these two!" yelled the irish man. The two men pointed their machine guns at Booker. Booker quickly aimed his pistol at the Irish man's head.

"I recommend you drop that," the black man said, re-aiming his gun at Elizabeth. "Now."

Booker reluctantly dropped his pistol and put his hands behind his head. He didn't like surrendering but what other choice did he have?

"Come on you two, we're going for a walk" the black man motioned for them to come with them. Booker stood up, Elizabeth still clutching Booker's arm. The two men laughed at her as they walked by and she buried her face in Booker's side. Booker growled. He would be sure to repay these "gentlemen" for their hospitality later. They walked across the deck of a barge, empty boxes lay strewn across the deck. More men dressed in red were standing on the deck, most of them were holding machine guns. "Who the hell are these guys?" Booker muttered to himself. The two men lead them to the captains quarters. Two armed guards stood by the door; they nodded as Booker and Elizabeth approached and opened the door. The two guards pushed Booker and Elizabeth into a dark room, lit by only a single light bulb. A dark figure stood just outside of the light's radius.

"So you're this 'False Shepherd' who's been causing all this chaos for the founders." said the figure. Her voice revealed she was a woman. It wasn't like Elizabeth's soft song like voice however; it was rough and world-weary. This was the voice of someone who had gone to hell and back, and lived to tell the tale. The figure stepped into the light, revealing a small but intimidating black woman. She had her black hair tied back, and wore dark overalls over a white shirt. She had a fire in her eyes that reminded Booker of Slate back at Wounded Knee.

"You know who I am? Who WE are?" she asked them.

Booker began to say he didn't know but Elizabeth interrupted him. "Y-your Daisy Fitzroy, leader of the anarchist group The Vox Populi"

"Yes," She walked closer to Elizabeth, who hid behind Booker. "And who are you, little miss?"

"Hey, you talk to me!" Booker asserted, placing his hand on Elizabeth.

Daisy turned to look at Booker. "I know who you are False Shepherd." She turned to look back at Elizabeth. "I assume this is the Lamb then, yes? Comstock's little bitch." Her words stung Booker and he angrily retorted "Watch what you say, you harlot!" He started to move closer to Daisy, but he stopped when he saw several armed guards walked out of the shadows. Elizabeth poked her head out from behind him to watch what was transpiring.

Daisy laughed at Booker's flash of anger. "I don't think you're in the position to be demanding things." She narrowed her gaze. "But, you may be of use to me."

"I'm not getting involved with your little band of rebels, Fitzroy." he said sharply "My priority is getting the hell out of this city."

Fitzroy laughed again. "You think Comstock is just going to let you walk out of here with the Lamb? No, you need us False Shepherd. More than you can imagine."

"And why is that?"

"Make no mistake, False Shepherd. War IS coming. So the only questions is," Daisy continued "Whose side are you on? Comstock's the god of the white man, the rich man, the pitiless man." She turned and put her hand on one of her guards shoulders. "But if you believe in the everyman, the righteous man, then join the Vox."

"I just want out of the city" Booker responded.

She stared forcefully into Booker's eyes. "Help me burn this city to the ground, and I'll see that you and your pretty little friend get out of here. You have my word."

Booker thought about what she said for a minute. She was right, Comstock wasn't going to let them go easily and they could use all the help they could get. He looked down at Elizabeth, who looked up at him and nodded. Booker let out a deep sighed.

"OK, Fitzroy. You got a deal."

**Note: Not one of my best chapters :P  
Fitting in Fitzroy without the airship was a bit difficult but I hope you like how I got her in there. **

**Another thing, I may not be able to post everyday for the next week or so. I have a few chapters for backup, so we'll just see how it all plays out.**


	15. Stone Cold Pinkterton

"Vox! Vox! Vox!"

Booker heard the crowd of Vox supporters chanting outside the Bull House Impound. He and Fitzroy had just lead the Vox to assault the compound and they were now making their way to the basement. Fitzroy had received word that their shipment of weapons had been intercepted and brought here to be impounded.

Booker had been helping the Vox for the last few days now and their rebellion had really picked up steam. They had overtaken Shantytown, Finkton's ghetto, and now that they held the impound they would soon be ready to attack the factory itself. Fitzroy promised him the First Lady Airship after they took the factory, and Booker was going to hold her to that promise. He still didn't trust her yet; a welcher's a welsher no matter their cause.

He found it hard not to admire Fitzroy though. He was a passionate leader who rallied hundreds to her cause in a matter of days and, unlike other worker's rebellions, her's was actually working. Booker had always been on the other side during worker riots, so it was interesting to view the conflict from the other side.

Elizabeth had grown very quiet over the last few days. Being around all this violence probably took a toll on her innocence. She smiled less and lacked the energy she had before at Soldier's Field and Battleship Bay. Booker had thought of leaving her behind when they went on raids, but she wouldn't leave his side and besides he liked having her around. She started to help out in combat, looking for ammo and salts and calling out enemies for him. They made quite the team.

Booker, Fitzroy, Elizabeth, and a small group of Vox soldiers entered the basement. Piled high in the center of the room were the Vox's weapons. Boxes filled with machine guns, rifles, and shotguns were stacked almost to the ceiling.

"Ok boys, let 'em in!" Fitzroy yelled. Booker heard the doors being opened upstairs and the thundering sound of hundreds of Vox supporters running towards them. The crowd filled the room like a red tide, sweeping over the guns and quickly carrying them out. Booker hadn't seen such efficiency since he was in the army. Fitzroy noticed he was impressed and smiled. "The voice of the working man will be heard!" she shouted. She walked over to Booker.

"You're impressed False Shepherd, I can see it in your eyes."

"Well, it's certainly an impressive feat." he said without looking at her. "But is it a good idea to arm all of these people, without knowing their true loyalty?"

"The Vox stands for the working man, and so the working man stands with the Vox." she said as she walked away. "Just as we stand with you, because you stand with us."  
A group of Vox soldiers walked in holding a Colombian Police Officer. He was tied up and gagged. The Vox started to cheer as they brought the man down and threw him in front of Fitzroy.

Booker felt Elizabeth tug on his arm. "What are they going to do to that man?" she asked.

"I don't know, but it's probably nothing good" he said grimly. He'd seen this kind of thing before; public executions to demoralize the workers. However, now it was the worker's executing their masters.

"Elizabeth, you shouldn't-," Booker started to say she shouldn't watch, but his voice was drowned out by the chanting Vox. Elizabeth couldn't hear him. He just hoped she was prepared for what was coming next.

"Brothers!" Fitzroy yelled and the crowd grew silent. "Look at this man! This is the face of oppression, of tyranny, and of lies!" The crowed cheered loudly as Fitzroy pulled out a pistol and aimed it at the man's head. He started to struggle and tried to talk through his gag.

"Watch as the white man trembles at our feet! The Vox have nothing to lose but their chains, but we have everything to gain! We may go to hell, but we'll bring this city down with us!" She pulled the trigger and blew the man's head open. Elizabeth screamed, but she was drowned out by the chanting Vox. She ran through the crowd and out of the basement. "Elizabeth!" Booker called after her but she was already gone. He pushed his way through the crowd to go after her.

He found her sitting in a corner with her hands wrapped around her legs and her head buried in her lap. Booker sat down next to her. "I don't want to help these people anymore," she mumbled.

Booker put his hand on her shoulder. "Elizabeth, it's just until we get the airship. Then we'll be long gone from this place."

Elizabeth looked up at him with sad eyes, still wet with tears. "Booker, why do they do these horrible things? How can you be a part of this?"

There was no easy way to answer her question. He took a deep breath.

"Elizabeth, did I tell you what I did for a living before I came here?"

Elizabeth looked confused. "No, I don't think so."

Booker shifted his eyes to look at the wall. "I used to work for a group called the Pinkertons. We would get sent in to factories when the workers got restless." he explained.

"To do what?"

"We would demonstrate the folly of man striking; We were taught to discourage men from throwing down their tools," he said coldly. "By any means necessary."

Elizabeth gasped. "You hurt people!"

Booker felt ashamed thinking about his past. "I'll tell you this: Sometimes there's precious need for folks like Fitzroy and the Vox,"

"Why?" Elizabeth asked.

"Because of people like me."

**Note: I hope you like my transition and don't mind me skipping over Chen Lin and Fink. I tried to write Fink and Chen Lin in but it always came across awkwardly and their place in the plot was hard to justify without using the "tear" explanation the game uses. Please don't hesitate to leave any feedback via PM or review.  
Thanks :)**


	16. The Shepherd and The Lamb

**Note: PLEASE READ!  
I'm going to warn you, Booker and Elizabeth's relationship in this chapter gets pretty darn close to romantic. Please note that I did not intend it that way and I tried really hard to keep it from going that way. I know I could have easily done it, and I kinda wanted to, but I must stick to my plan to avoid romance. It is getting REALLY hard to keep their relationship from going that far, so bear with me :)**

"The Vox are here!" screamed a Colombian soldier.

He stood frozen in fear as a massive red tidal wave came charging towards him. The Vox were intent on taking Fink's factory and nothing was going to stand in their way. The Colombian soldiers were no match for the Vox's overwhelming numbers. Bullet's whizzed by and men of both sides fell to the ground, staining the golden floor bright red.

"Watch out on your left!"

Booker quickly whipped his head to the left to see a Colombian soldier charging at him. He took aim and dispatched his attacker with a single shot from his new hand cannon.

"Thanks." Booker yelled to Fitzroy. She gave him a half smile before blowing the head off another soldier with her rifle. Booker had grown to trust Fitzroy over the last few days. Sure, she was a radical and a bit overzealous at times but she was a loyal ally Booker could count on. Booker loaded another round into his hand canon before charging out into the fray with her. The Vox horde had just reach the gate to the factory, and they were clawing at the metal barrier with anticipation. Some even tried to climb over the top as their allies chanted. "Vox! Vox! Vox!"

However, their cheers were drowned out by a deep bellow. The Vox grew quiet as a massive airship descended from the clouds and began firing rockets. Booker heard screams coming from the Vox as the rocket's impacted. The group scattered and began to run frantically. Booker grabbed Fitzroy and yelled in her ear "Someone needs to take down that airship or we're not getting in that factory!"

Fitzroy laughed. "Thank you for volunteering, Mr. DeWitt!" she called back. Booker looked around for some kind of rocket launcher.

"We don't have rockets," Fitzroy yelled over the sound of exploding rockets. "You'll have to get up there and take it out from the inside!"

"How the hell am I going to-" he was cut off by the roar of more rockets exploding nearby.

"-get up there!" he finished.

She pointed to skylines winding through nearby buildings. Booker grabbed his Skyhook and took a running leap. He latched onto the skylines and began riding up to the airship. He lept off the skyline onto the airship's wing. Several soldier's came out to meet him, but he easily took them out. A headshot for one; a fireball for another two; and swift kick knocked the last one off the edge. He walked into the airship's cabin and began frantically looking for the controls. He heard more Columbian soldier's heading his way. He checked his ammo. Three shots left and no time to reload. He spotted the engine and looked at his skyhook. "This will have to do." he said as he revved up the claws. He jammed it into the engine and twisted. The engine sputtered and then exploded, sending Booker flying the side door. He looked up to see the ship catching on fire as it fell to the ground below.

Then Booker realized he was falling. "Shit!" he yelled and he looked down to see the ground rapidly approaching him. He had lost his skyhook in the explosion and now there was nothing to save him from falling to his death. He closed his eyes and prepared to meet the end.

"Offm!" Booker felt himself hit a bouncer surface. He opened his eyes to find himself laying on a small blimp. After he caught his breath, he realized that there was something off about this blimp. It seemed to be discolored and he swore it looked like it was going to phase out of existence any second. He tried to stand up, but he slipped on the blimp's smooth surface and began to fall again. He grabbed onto a ropes hanging off the blimp and stopped himself just as he reached the end of the rope. The blimp floated upwards and Booker saw solid ground beneath his feet. He dropped down and let out a long sigh. He looked over and saw Elizabeth with her eyes tightly shut; she had her hands held out as if she was struggling to hold open a door.

"Elizabeth!" Booker yelled as he ran over to her. She heard his voice and opened her eyes. She immediately relaxed her arms and ran over to him. Booker heard a loud Shlump behind him. He turned around and saw the blimp disappear as if it were sucked into nothingness. He stared at where the blimp had been, unable to move. "What the-" he started to say but he was interrupted by Elizabeth's tight hug around his waist. He turned around to see her face buried in his chest.

"Oh Booker, I was so worried! I thought you were going to die!" she cried.

"Its OK, Elizabeth. I'm fine." he said, softly stroking her hair. He wasn't paying much attention to her however; he was still trying to figure out what happened to the blimp. He saw Fitzroy running over to him with a crowed of Vox behind her. They were all chanting "DeWitt! DeWitt! DeWitt!" loudly.

"What was that?" she yelled, pointing to where the blimp was.

"I don't know," he said with shrug. "It just appeared beneath me."

"That was some kind of miracle; you must have God on your side, False Shepherd."

Booker laughed. "I doubt it..."

Fitzroy didn't hear him. She turned back to the chanting crowd. "You see brothers! Booker DeWitt risked his life for the Vox and God saved him! If God no longer favors the founders, who can stand against us?" The crowd roared in response. "To the factory!" The crowd and Fitzroy charged back to the gates, leaving Booker and Elizabeth alone again.

Booker started to walk after them when he felt Elizabeth grab his hand.

"Booker..." she said sheepishly.

Booker gave her a concerned look. "What is it Elizabeth?"

"I... I know where the blimp came from,"

"Really? Where?"

"I made the blimp appear. To save you." she nervously fiddled with her hair. "I... I panicked; I opened a tear and brought it through because I was so scared you'd be-"

She noticed Booker's confused expression. She looked at the ground and started to cry. "You think I'm a freak, don't you?"

Booker was thoroughly confused by what Elizabeth said, but he could worry about it later. He put his arm around Elizabeth and pulled her into a hug.

"Don't cry Elizabeth," he said softly. "I don't think you're a freak."

She looked up at him. "You don't?"

"No, of course not. You're just..."

Elizabeth looked up at Booker expectantly. He was trying to think of the right thing to say, but he kept coming up blank. Elizabeth senses his hesitation. She pushed away from his grip.

"You don't know, do you?" she said. "Even I don't know what I am. I'm just some specimen; my only purpose in life is to be experimented on. I deserve to be locked up, like the freak of nature I am!" She fell to her knees and began crying again.

Booker knelt down next to her. "Elizabeth,"

She turned away. "Don't look at me," she said through her sobs.

"Elizabeth, you're not just some specimen to be locked away."

She turned to look at him. Her eyes were red from crying. "Then what am I!" she cried. "You didn't know in the tower and you don't know now!"

Booker felt uncomfortable about what he about to say next, but she needed to hear it for her sake. "Elizabeth, you mean more to me than anything in the world."

She looked at him with a shocked expression. "Wha-what?"

"You've shown me more love and care than anyone ever has," he said. "You give my life purpose, Elizabeth. Nothing you can do will ever change that."

He looked away from her gaze. "If anyone deserves to be locked away, it's me."

Elizabeth stared at him in shock. Tears continued to slide down her cheeks, but now they were tears of joy.

"Booker..." she said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you"


	17. A Debt Repaid

"Eat this ya bloody blighter!"

A rocket whizzed by Booker's head and hit a large glowing _Fink Mfg._ sign. The _F_ creaked and fell down, crushing two Colombian Soldiers and their sentry turret. The Vox cheered loudly as they finished of the rest of the guards.  
The Vox were making their final assault on Fink's main factory. Fink was hiding somewhere inside, and Daisy and the Vox were determined to find him and bring him to justice. The red horde swept through the lower levels of the building, burning everything with Fink's name or image on it.

"Come on, DeWitt! You don't want to miss all the fun!" called a red masked goon. He waved for Booker to catch up with the rest of the group as they made their way to the elevators.

Even since his heroic destruction of the airship, Booker had become a celebrity among the Vox ranks. They called him "Hero of the Vox" and "Champion of the People". Booker didn't think he was a hero; all he had down was kill more people. He had been on both sides of rebellions now, and neither side was any more glorious than the other. Fighting for your country, your freedom, or your God; it didn't matter. Blood is blood, and everyone bleeds the same.

Booker and Elizabeth rode up the elevator with Fitzroy. Out the window they saw a massive golden statue of Fink.

"Well, the man's got an ego," Booker said with a chuckle.

"Not for long," Fitzroy said back. "Watch."

Suddenly, there was a huge cloud of smoke and the statue began to creak. It swayed back and forth a few times before finally crashing down to the ground below.

"I hope Fink saw that," Fitzroy said. "Because he's next"

She pulled out her pistol and cocked it back. The elevator dinged and the doors opened, revealing a pile of dead soldiers in the center of the room. Vox members stood around the pile. "Here ya go you son's of bitches!" a Vox member yelled, kicking one of the soldier's bodies. "Your homes will be ours! Your lives will be our ours! Your wives will be are ours!" The group of Vox laughed.

Elizabeth looked up at Booker with a concerned look.

"I know, I don't like it either. Just don't look." Booker said quietly.

She nodded slightly and tried not to look. Fitzroy walked over to the group and raised her voice. "Brothers! The time has come to find the snake in the grass and break his soft little next!" The Vox cheered as they pushed open the door to the factory's docking station. "Fink must be in here somewhere, spread out and find him brothers!" The group quickly fanned out to look for Fink. Fitzroy, Booker, and Elizabeth walked to the center of the docking bay.

Suddenly, several Colombian barges flew up from below. The soldiers on board aimed their guns at the Vox. Elizabeth held Booker's arm and Fitzroy aimed her gun. Fink's smug voice came over the intercom. "Welcome, Fitzroy to my factory! As you can see, you fell right into my trap. Did you really think I would lock myself up here with nowhere to escape?" He laughed loudly.

"You're a coward Fink! Come down and fight!" Fitzroy yelled.

"Now now, Fitzroy. You of all people should know that to survive one must use more than just brute strength." He taunted. "Boys, if you don't mind; dispose of her 'Vox Populi' goons will you?" The soldiers outnumbered the Vox, and despite the Vox's valiant defence they were easily defeated.

"Elizabeth," Booker whispered "Run and hide!"

"No, I won't leave you!" she protested.

"Elizabeth, please." He looked distraught. "You might get hurt!"

She wanted to tell him the same thing, but she nodded understandingly. She hide behind some crates and watched quietly through a small crack.

"Now that we're are alone Fitzroy," Fink said smugly "We can 'talk' about your little rebellion"

The First Lady airship appeared and docked at the station. "Yeah, we can talk," Fitzroy yelled "About how you want to die!"

They heard the sound of guns being cocked. Fink laughed. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Fitzroy. My boys are just itching to take a shot at you." Reluctantly, Booker and Fitzroy threw their guns on the ground. "Thank you boys, you can go now. This is a private matter." The barges flew off into the clouds. Fink stepped out wearing a fancy black suit and a tall top hat. "Ah, Mr. DeWitt how nice of you to join us!" he sneered. "Or, are you going by 'The False Shepherd' now?". He laughed at his own joke. He walked over to Booker. "As much as I'd love to stay and chat, Fitzroy and I have some business to settle," he pulled out a revolver and aimed it at Booker's head. "So I'm afraid you have to go now." he said with an evil grin.

"NO!" Elizabeth screamed.

BANG!

Booker opened his eyes to see Fink staring at him, his eyes wide, and blood dripping from a hole in his chest. Fink dropped his revolver and fell to his knees. Booker quickly looked over at Fitzroy. She was also staring wide-eyed at Fink. She hadn't shot him, so who did?

He turned around to see Elizabeth holding a smoking gun in her hands. Her eyes were wet with tears and filled with fear. "Elizabeth..." Booker said.

She didn't appear to her him; her eyes were glued to Fink. When Booker walked over to her, she quickly aimed at him. Booker stopped in his tracks. "Whoa, whoa. Be careful with that."

Booker's voice woke her from her trance. "Booker-" she started to say. She noticed she was still holding the gun, and immediately threw it on the ground.

"Oh my god..." she said, now looking at Fink's dead body. "Wha-what have I done!"

"What that was," Fitzroy said as she walked over. "Was some fine good shooting, miss." Fitzroy tried to put her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder, but Elizabeth backed up. "Get away from me!"

Fitzroy looked confused and hurt. "What did I do?"

"I-I..." Elizabeth started to stammer. Suddenly, she ran off.

"Elizabeth!" Booker yelled. "Damnit.."

He turned to Fitzroy. "You go," she said. "Like he said, Mr. Fink and I have unsettled business."

Booker nodded and ran after Elizabeth. She ran on to the First Lady Airship and locked herself in the back room. Booker knocked on the door. "Elizabeth!"

"Go away!" she yelled back.

"Look, I understand what you're going through. If you would just talk to-"

The door opened to reveal Elizabeth, wearing a blue dress and her hair cut short. "What did you do?" he said.

She walked past him. "It's time I grow up, Booker."

Booker put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Elizabeth..."

"How do you do it?" she asked him without turning around.

"Do what?" he asked.

"Forget," she said. "Forget the things you've done. How do you wash away your sins?"

"You can't" he replied sadly. "You just learn to live with it."

"I've had to learn to live with a lot of things lately." she said with a weak laugh.

"Yeah...I guess so," he said with a frown. He noticed her smile fade.

"Elizabeth, I'm sorry..."

She looked at him, surprised. "For what?"

He took a deep breath. "Elizabeth, do you know why I came to Columbia?"

She looked confused. "To rescue me?"

He chuckled softly. "Well, yes. But do you know why I came to rescue you?"

She thought for a moment, then said "No, I don't know. I never really thought about it."

"I owe a lot of money," he began. "And there's a fellow in New York who was willing to wipe away that debt, in exchange for you."

Elizabeth's face changed from confusion to shock as she slowly backed up from Booker. Booker quickly added "But I'm not doing that, not anymore." He shifted his eyes to avoid her's and said "I don't deserve a second chance, but you... you deserve better. You deserve better than me."

He walked over to the controls and set course for Paris. "That's why I'm sending you to Paris. Alone."

"Booker..."

He walked over the to door and looked down at the Sodom below. "I'm sorry Elizabeth, for everything." Booker closed his eyes and slowly fell forward. There's a debt he owes the girl, and if it meant paying her and not the man in New York, so be it.

**Note: I re-wrote that last part probably 15+ times before I arrived at the way it is now, and I'm still not entirely happy with it. It is a pretty big change from the game's narrative unfortunately. Please leave any thoughts you have in a review or PM, I'd like to hear what you think. **


	18. On the Wings of Angels

"Mr. DeWitt! Mr. DeWitt!"

Booker woke with a start. He was at his desk in his New York office. "How did I get here?"

He looked around his office. Papers were all over the floor, bottles of scotch lay piled up next to his desk, and his ash tray was filled with half smoked cigarettes. "Was that... all just a dream?"

A loud knock came from his front door. "Are you in there Mr. DeWitt? Open this door, right now!"

Booker walked over to the door, but hesitated at the last second. "What do you want?" he asked the voice.

"We had a deal, DeWitt!" The loud knocking came again. "Bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt!"

Booker backed up slowly. "No, you're not getting her."

"Mr. DeWitt, must I remind you of what will happen if you do not give us the girl?" The voice said with a sly tone.

"She's not here! Leave me alone!" He yelled back.

"We know she's in there Mr. DeWitt! Don't make us come in there!" The knocking got louder.

"No she's not-" He turned around to see Elizabeth leaning against the wall. "No...no no no! You shouldn't be here!" She didn't seem to hear him; she was busy humming a song. "I told you to stay away, why did you come back!" She didn't respond. "You were free! Why would you come here!"

The knocking at the door got louder and the door began to crack. "Mr. DeWitt, open this door or we'll open it for you! You have 3 seconds!"

Booker looked at Elizabeth and tears began to well up in his eyes.

"Three..."

He clenched his fists and turned to glared at the door.

"Two..."

He walked over to the door and put his hand on the doorknob.

"One..."

Booker threw open the door and lunged at whoever was on the other side. "I won't let you take her you son of a bitch!"

Booke found himself blinded by a bright light. He squeezed his eyes shut and covered his face with his arms. He felt a strong wind blowing through his hair and a chill run through his bones. Then he felt himself falling. His eyes shot open and he saw he was falling from the sky.

Suddenly, he felt something grab him. He looked back to see Elizabeth holding his vest and desperately trying to hold him back from falling to his death.

"Booker, No! Don't do this!" She cried. Tears were rolling down her cheeks and her eyes were wide with fear. She pulled him with all her might. Booker stumbled back into the airship and Elizabeth fell backwards.

Booker looked at her in disbelief. Why did she save him?

She got up and wrapped her arms around him. "Don't ever scare me like that again!" she said. "I couldn't bare to be alone again!" Booker stood in shock. He didn't know what to say, so he simply put his arms around her and hugged her back. Booker didn't understand; she should hate him for lying to her. Was this a dream too?

Elizabeth let go and stepped back to look at him. "Why would you ever want to do that Booker?" She had a look of genuine concern in her eyes.

"What else is there for me to do?" he said looking at the ground. "I can't go back to New York, all that awaits me there is my debts. I can't stay in Columbia either; I'm a wanted man. I'd rather die knowing I did at least one good thing with my life than live on with regrets."

"Why couldn't you come with me to Paris?" Elizabeth asked innocently.

"I..."

Booker hadn't thought of that option. He had assumed Elizabeth would hate him and never want to see him again.

"I... don't know why," he said

Elizabeth smiled. "Then it's settled! We'll go to Paris together!"

Booker's head was so full of conflicting emotions, he didn't know what to feel. He absentmindedly watched as Elizabeth danced around and talked about how wonderful she read Paris was. He just stood there smiling, enjoying the moment. All his worries seemed to fade away as they slowly sailed through the clouds.

Screeech!

Booker's trance was broken by a loud screech and the sound of mechanical wings.  
Booker looked over to see Elizabeth hiding and covering her ears. "No...no...no no no no no!

"Oh shit," Booker said "Come on, we gotta find a way to make this thing go faster!"

Elizabeth was frantically looking around the airship. "There's got to be some kind of... throttle or something!"

"Do you know what that looks like?"

"I don't know!"

"Help me find it!" Booker yelled as they scrambled to find a way to make the ship go faster.

Songbird slammed into the front of the airship causing it to rapidly lose altitude. Booker felt weightless as the craft fell to the ground. "Elizabeth, grab onto something!"

She didn't hear him though; she was paralyzed with fear. He pushed off a wall and grabbed her. "Hold on!" he yelled as the airship crashed into one of Columbia's floating districts. He heard Songbird trumpeting a victory cry before he blacked out.

**Note: Yet again, I had to rewrite the first part several times before getting it right. I still think it could have been done better, but I was having trouble thinking of the right words to use, so I ended up cutting a lot of what I wanted to write. Hope you enjoyed this chapter; We should be in line with the game's story now ;)**


	19. Stand By Me

"Booker?"

"Booker!"

Booker felt himself being shook violently. His eyes snapped open and he grabbed his assailants arms. Elizabeth sat next him, her eyes wide with surprise. "Don't startle me like that!" he said with a rough tone.

"I'm sorry..." she said "I was worried you weren't going to wake up, and I was going to be stuck here all alone again, and then songbird would come back and-"

Booker cut her off. "Hey, I'm still here OK? You don't have to worry so much." He gave her a reassuring smile. His smile faded when he tried to stand up. "Argh!" he yelled in pain.

"Are you OK?" Elizabeth blurted.

"Yeah, I'm just fine," Booker said sarcastically, wincing in pain with each word. "Can't you see I'm in pain here?"

She lowered her eyes in shame. "Oh... I-I'm sorry"

Booker softened his tone. 'I'm sorry Elizabeth, I didn't mean that." He held out his hand. "Can you help me up?"

"Don't you think we should look at your back?"

"No, I'll be fine, just help me up." He winced in pain as he tried to move.

"You shouldn't be trying to move, you might have broken a bone."

"Elizabeth-"

"Booker!"

He was surprised by her sudden anger.

"You don't need to prove anything to me; I know your thought and I know you'll protect me, but I'm afraid one of these days you're just going to fall apart." Elizabeth looked very concerned.

Booker sighed. "Fine, I will check if I broke a bone if it will make you feel better." He tried to roll over but Elizabeth stopped him.

"You shouldn't be putting so much weight on your back; if something is broken you'll only make it worse."

"Then how will I know if I have broken something?" He asked in frustration.

"I will check for you."

"OK, fine." He lay back and watched as she poked his back gently.

"Ahhh!" Booker yelled.

"Hmm, just as I thought. You broke a rib, and cracked several others."

"How do you know that, Doc?" Booker said with chuckle.

She poked him again. Booker winced. "I get it, I get it. Please stop."

She giggled. "You stay here and rest; I'll go look for something to treat your pain with."

She got up and hopped off the airship. She immediately recognized where they were. They had crashed in Emporia, Columbia's high class district. She walked through the abandoned streets streets looking for a drugstore. "Where is everyone?" she wondered aloud. She found a drugstore and found it's door unlocked. She walked inside. "Hello? Anyone here?"

Nobody answered her calls, so she assumed the building was empty. She found pain medication and an ice pack behind the counter. She grabbed a water bottle to take the pills with too. As she began to walk out, she felt bad for stealing. She placed a few silver eagles she had collected on the counter, which made her feel a little better.

She returned to the airship to find Booker passed out on the floor again. She put the icepack on his side and he woke up with a start. Elizabeth laughed as he frantically tried to knock off the ice pack. "Leave it; It will help your ribs heal."

She opened a bottle of painkillers. "Here take these too, they'll reduce the pain." Booker took the two pills and washed them down with a sip of water.

"I feel better already," he said. He tried to stand up.

"Where are you going? You need to rest more!" Elizabeth protested.

"I appreciate your concern Elizabeth, but we've got to keep moving. The bird could come back at any moment."

"But-"

Booker winked at her. "Trust me; I've been through worse. It takes more than this to keep me down."

Booker tried to stand up, but his side hurt too much and he slide back down.

"Ya, it takes a lot more to keep you down." Elizabeth said sarcastically.

"Just help me up."

She helped him stand up. He winced in pain, but he was able to stay upright on his own. They hopped off the airship.

"Where are we?" Booker asked as he looked around.

"This is Emporia," Elizabeth answered "Columbia's high class shopping district. I've seen pictures of it before; Columbia's wealthiest citizens come here all the time."

Booker chuckled. "Well, I think someone else is spending their time here now." He pointed to a large red banner flowing in the wind.  
Elizabeth gasped. "The Vox? I thought they were staying in Finkton! I didn't know they were attacking civilians!"

"It seems Fitzroy's appetite for blood wasn't satisfied with just Finkton. She plans to take over the whole city."

"This isn't right! These people didn't do anything wrong; they don't deserve to die!"

Booker pulled out his shotgun. "Elizabeth, you remember how I told you that sometimes there's a need for people like Fitzroy?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, that time had passed," he said with a sigh.

"It's times like this," He pumped the shotgun once. "That you need people like me."


	20. The Good Samaritan

**Note: Sorry this is a day late, but I think it was worth it. I really like this chapter, and I hope you enjoy it too; Especially the ending ;)**

"You ever seen a forest at the beginning of a fire?" Fitzroy voice's echoed through the empty streets.

"Before the first flames, you see them possums and squirrels running through the trees. They know what's comin'. But the fat bears, bellies full of honey: You can barely wake them from their comfortable hibernation. We're going to take Emporia, and see what it takes to rouse them from their slumber!"

"We got to move faster if we're going to catch up to Fitzroy." Booker said.

Elizabeth and Booker hurried through the streets of Emporia, following the sound of Fitzroy's voice.

"The founder's belief is that we're no better than oxen!" Fitzroy continued. "Think on that! Think on a man looking at you and seeing not a person, but a beast to be ruled over!" Booker heard the Vox shout in response.

"They don't see a person capable of rational thought! They don't see a someone with their own dreams and aspirations!"

The Vox yelled louder in response. Fitzroy continued to shout over them. "They don't see someone trying to make sure their kids have it better than they did! The Founder's see you as something to be controlled! To be told when to eat! When to sleep! When to stand and sit down!"

The voices were getting louder now. "We must be getting closer. Keep your voice down and stay close to me." Booker said to Elizabeth.

She nodded, and the two of them walked around the corner to find the massive Vox horde circling Fitzroy, who stood on a toppled statue of Comstock.

Fitzroy was still yelling to the Vox. "They look at you and see a tool to be used!"

As they got closer, Booker could see Fitzroy had a little boy kneeling before her. Fitzroy held her gun to his head. Elizabeth gasped. "Booker, you've got to stop her!"

Booker looked at the boy: He couldn't have been much older than 10 years old. He had a look of absolute terror in his eyes.

"Booker do something!" Elizabeth said pulling on his jacket.

"Elizabeth, we can't save everyone we see. We have to take care of ourselves first."

She looked at him with distraught. "I thought you were better than that; better than them." she said with disappointment. "I guess I was wrong..."

Booker felt both angered and saddened by her comment. He wanted to believe he was better than Fitzroy's bloodthirsty cult, but was he? Booker sighed; Now was the time to prove who he really was.

Booker pushed his way through the crowd. "Hey!" Booker shouted.

The crowd became quite. Booker cleared his throat and continued. "Is this it? Is this your movement, Daisy?

Fitzroy turned to look at Booker. "This is what needs to be done! You of all people should understand that!"

"I don't kill innocent civilians, Daisy. And neither should you."

"You don't get it do you False Shepherd? You see, the Founder's are like a weed. Cut them down, and they just grow back!" She pulled back the hammer of her pistol. "If you want to get rid of a weed, you gotta pull it up from the root! It's the only way to-"

"He's just a little boy, he didn't hurt anyone!" Booker yelled back.

Fitzroy lowered her gun and let the boy go. "My Booker DeWitt was a hero to the cause, a true friend of the common man. A story to tell your children. But you," She aimed her gun at Booker. "You just complicate the narrative!"

"Elizabeth," Booker whispered as he reached for his gun.

"Yeah?" Elizabeth answered with a worried voice.

"Run!"

Booker pulled out his pistol and shot Fitzroy in the stomach. Then he and Elizabeth took off down an ally.

Fitzroy coughed up blood, but was still standing. "Booker DeWitt has betrayed the Vox! Brothers, to arms!" she shouted before falling to her knees. The Vox grabbed their guns and charged after Booker and Elizabeth.

"Over there!" Elizabeth shouted. She was pointing to an abandoned store with an open door. They ran inside and Booker closed the door behind them. They held their breath and they listened to the Vox run past, chanting "Kill DeWitt! Kill DeWitt!"

After the chanting had died off into the distance, Booker turned to look at Elizabeth.

"Now do you see why we can't help everyone?" he said with anger in his voice.

Elizabeth looked surprised by his anger. "B-but we did save him, right?"

"I don't know...," Booker put his hand on his forehead. "That's the point, see? We risked our lives to try and save some stranger, and now we don't even know if we actually saved him." He pointed outside. "And now we've got the entire Vox army looking for us."

"I'm sorry Booker, I didn't think-" she said sheepishly.

Booker sighed deeply and said "It's fine Elizabeth. Just try and think about these things next time, OK?"

He sat down on a dusty chair in the corner and closed his eyes. He felt Elizabeth wrap her arms around him. "Thank you, Booker."

Without opening his eyes he asked "For what?"

"For being a hero when nobody expects you to be one"

She planted a kiss on his cheek before walking over to a bookshelf on the other end of the room. Booker opened one eye. He chuckled as she walked away. "You know what I'd really like," he said.

"What's that?" she called back.

"A thank you from that kid I saved" he answered.

"Maybe we'll find him," Elizabeth said with a chuckle. "Maybe he'll ask for your autograph"

Booker closed his eyes again and leaned back in the chair. He had earned some rest, and they were moderately safe for now.

"T-t-thank y-you, s-sir" a small voice whispered nervously. Booker's eyes shot open and he sat up with a start. He looked next to him to find the small boy they had saved hiding under a desk. Elizabeth turned around. "Booker who are you-," she gasped when she saw the little boy. "Oh my god, he's alive!"

She ran over to him, but he receded back into the desk. "It's OK, we won't hurt you." She reached out with her hand, but the boy curled up and hide his face.

"Elizabeth, leave him be." Booker said softly. "He's traumatized. He needs some time to cope with what has happened."

Elizabeth stood up. "We can't just leave him here! He's all alone and the Vox are looking for him too!" she protested.

Booker chuckled. "Relax, Elizabeth. He's a smart kid; He found his way in here, right? He'll be fine."

"Then, I'm going to explore the building for supplies" She started to walk towards the stairs.

"Wait, you can't go off by yourself! It's dangerous!" he called as he stood up to go after her.

She winked at him. "Relax, Booker. I'm a smart girl; I found our way in here, right? I'll be fine."

Booker stood dumbstruck; He had been beaten by his own words. He sat down again and chuckled. She was becoming more and more like Booker every day. He thought back to their time at Soldier's Field; specifically when the cafe' owner had mistaken Elizabeth for his daughter. Booker laughed.

"Elizabeth DeWitt, my daughter. Wouldn't that be something?"


	21. Promises

"We need to find a way off this city," Booker said as he and Elizabeth walked through the streets of Emporia. "It's only a matter of time before the Vox or the Bird find us again."

Elizabeth remained silent, so Booker kept talking. "I don't know where we'll go. We could always go to Paris I guess, but that's not the most practical option."

"Of course, that's assuming we get out of here alive." Elizabeth said.

Booker stopped and looked at her. "Don't talk like that," he scolded her. "I promise you: We're getting out of here"

"No," she whispered. "That is a promise you cannot keep."

She gently grabbed Booker's hand and looked into his eyes. "You must promise me that if it comes to it, you will not let them take me back"

Booker stared back into her deep blue eyes. "It will not come to that"

Her eyes shifted to the ground. "You can't stop him, you know..."

"Who?"

"Songbird," she said quietly.

"We'll see about that," Booker said. "I'm not going to let anything take you away, Elizabeth. I promise."

"Don't make a girl a promise you can't keep," she said with a weak smile.

Suddenly, they heard music playing. Elizabeth began to panic. "No, no! No no no!" she yelled.

"What is it?" Booker called to her.

She pointed to the sky. "It's him!"

Booker looked up to see a large black shape flying towards them. It let out a ear-piercing screech. "Shit!" Booker yelled. He pushed Elizabeth out of the way as Songbird slammed into the ground, causing Booker to stumble backwards.

"Come and get me you piece of shit!" Booker shouted at the beast. He shot at Songbird with his pistol, but the small bullets barely fazed the beast. It screeched and swatted Booker away with it's giant hand. Songbird stomped over to where Elizabeth was hiding. She screamed and tried to run, but the bird grabbed her. Booker saw the bird starting to take off with Elizabeth.

"Hey, where are you going! Give her back you son of a bitch!" He started to throw fireballs at the bird. The bird screeched and smacked the fireballs back at Booker with it's massive wings. Booker dove out of the way. He looked up to see Songbird take off with Elizabeth.

As Booker stood there in the street, watching Songbird fly off towards Comstock House with Elizabeth, he began to feel tears fall down his face. Booker blinked in surprise; he hadn't cried since he was a little boy. He suddenly realized how alone he felt without Elizabeth's company. He had failed; He had failed her and he had failed himself. Elizabeth's words echoed in his head. "That is a promise you cannot keep. You can't stop him, you know."

Booker wiped the tears from his face. He clenched his fists and pulled out his shotgun. "We'll see who can't stop who" he said as he marched towards Comstock House.

He found the entrance to Comstock House under siege by the Vox. The Vox were using a large battering ram to knock down the gate. Fitzroy was nowhere to be seen. Instead, another Vox member stood shouting to his fellow Vox. "Push brothers and sisters, push! Fitzroy gave her life for the cause, and the Vox demands nothing less from you!" The Vox began to chant Fitzroy's name in unison.

"For Fitzroy! For Fitzroy! For Fitzroy!"

Soon the gate gave in and the Vox surged through. Booker grabbed a mask from one of the dead Vox members laying on the ground and put it on. He looked at his reflection in a nearby window. His deep green eyes shone out from under the red mask; He looked like the devil. He walked over to join the Vox ranks as they marched into Comstock House.

The Vox immediately began to ransack the building. They smashed vases, tore down pictures, and overturned tables and chairs. Booker slipped away during the chaos and headed upstairs. Comstock House was massive. The lower levels of the house were used as an asylum for Comstock's enemies and doubters, and the upper levels were Comstock's personal quarters. Booker wandered through the seemingly endless hallways until he came to a large metal door.

Authorized Personnel Only a sign above the door read.

There was a buzzer by the door. Booker pressed it. "I want to see the girl" he said into the microphone.

"I'm sorry, only those with an authorized ID card may proceed past this point." a robotic voice told him. "If you have lost your ID, please see the Warden for a new one."

Booker saw a nearby sign that said Warden's Office Third Floor.

"I guess I'll have a chat with the Warden," Booker mumbled. He turned around to see the elevator coming down to meet him. It open to reveal Colombian soldier's armed for combat. They seemed surprised to see him. "It's the False Shepherd!" one of them yelled.

Booker quickly pulled out his shotgun and blew the men away with a few blasts. He got onto the elevator and went to the top floor. He found himself in a long hallway, flanked on each side by heavy metal doors. Each door had a symbol on it: there was an octopus, a crow, a lightning bolt, a grinning devil, a golden helmet, a horse, a ram, and a heart. Booker remembered he had seen two of those symbols before. The devil and the heart were on the Vigor bottle's he had seen back at the raffle.

He pushed open one of the doors, the one with the octopus symbol, and was horrified by what was inside. The room was filled with bodies, covered with little holes, laying in a pool of water. A blue bottle labeled Undertow sat on a table. He took the bottle and pulled off the cap.

"Bottoms up"

He took a quick sip from the bottle, and immediately began to feel queasy. His arms began to develop holes, and he felt like water was rushing through his arms. He threw his arms outward, and a blast of water flew from his hands. He tried concentrating, and a tentacle of water emerged from his arm. He reached out and grabbed one of the bodies in the pool. "This will come in handy," Booker thought.

He entered the room next door, and found it contained a large number of purple crystals jutting out of the floor, ceiling, and walls. An electric charge seemed to be jumping from crystal to crystal. Another bottle, a purple on this time, sat on the table. It was labeled Shock Jockey.  
Booker took a sip from the bottle. He felt electricity surging through his veins. Small purple crystals formed on his hands. He held his hand out and a bolt of lightning jumped from his hands and left a black crater on the far wall. "Comstock's in for a shock" Booker chuckled at his own joke.

As he walked out of the room, he heard Comstock's voice over the loudspeakers. "False Shepherd, your persistence is admirable but futile. You struggle against prophecy, like a stone loosed from a sling. How thrilling the launch! How breathtaking the apex! And how terrifying the descent, as gravity drags you into the inevitable."

Booker began to walk faster towards the Warden's Office. Be kicked down the door to find nobody inside. He took off the Vox mask as he walked over to the control panel. "There's got to be a way to open the door from here!" He spotted a switch labeled Manual Door Control. Booker flipped the switch and he heard the door open. Then he heard an alarm go off.

Comstock's voice came over the loudspeaker again. "The False Shepherd has broken the perimeter! All soldiers to battle stations! Protect the Lamb!"

Booker heard soldier's headed his way. There was no way out. He pulled out his machine gun and aimed it at the door, waiting for the soldiers to come.

"Shit, the Vox are here!" shouted a soldier. Booker looked out the window so see the Vox pouring into the room and fighting the soldiers.

While the soldier's were distracted with the Vox, Booker slipped past and got back on the elevator.

"He's in the elevator! Stop him!" Comstock yelled.

Booker saw a group of soldier's waiting for him on the bottom floor. They had their gun's aimed at the elevator doors. They'd massacre him when the doors opened. Or would they...?

Ding!

The door's opened and a wave of water came pouring out, knocking over the soldiers and then a bolt of lightning zapped the water and electrocuted them. Booker stepped out of the elevator with a tentacle of water in one hand, and a cracking crystal in his other. He felt unstoppable. "Your next Comstock!" he whispered.

He walked through the door and it closed behind him. He heard Elizabeth's voice from a door at the end of the hallway. She was screaming with pain. Booker took off running. "I'm coming Elizabeth!"

He pulled on the door, but it was locked. "Damn it!" Booker growled.  
He threw his weight against the door, and it opened. He stumbled into a large circular room.

"If she gets ornery, just hit her with the machines." said a man in a doctor's outfit. He and another man were standing over Elizabeth, who was strapped onto a chair with cables coming out of the back. A wall of glass stood between them and Booker.

"Comstock, what are you doing to her!?" Booker yelled.

"Mr. DeWitt, I was wondering when you'd get here. What's the expression? A day late and a dollar short?" Comstock responded with a laugh.

Elizabeth heard his voice and looked at him through the glass. "Booker!" she shouted.

"Hit her with another jolt!" the doctor yelled. Elizabeth screamed in agony. "No no! Turn it off! Please, it hurts!"

"Can we give her something to quiet her down?" the doctor asked Comstock.

"No," Comstock answered. "Half the procedure is pain; When the body cries out, the spirit listens."

"You bastards are hurting her!" Booker yelled.

"You hear that screaming DeWitt?" Comstock said to Booker. "That's the sound of your interference! You have lead my Lamb into temptation!"

"Shut up!" Booker shouted as he burst into the first generator room. He pulled the lever and one of the machines shut down.

"He shut down one of the machines!" yelled one of the doctors. "If we don't sedate her, and he shuts down the other-"

"We're not sedating her!" Comstock yelled. "Bring in more soldiers! Stop the False Shepherd!"

Soldier's poured into the room and began to search for Booker. Booker jumped out and gunned down a group of soldiers. He used Undertow to grab one of the soldiers. He threw him at his friends, knocking them over. He shocked them with Shock Jockey before finishing off the last soldier with a fireball.

He made his way over the other generator. He pulled the switch and the machine grew silent.

"He shut down the other generator!" yelled one of the doctors.

"She's getting up..." said another.

Suddenly, a massive tear opened to reveal a tornado coming straight at them. "Oh god... DeWitt turn the machine back on...please! Turn it back on! Please! Arghhh!" The two doctors got sucked out into the tornado just as the tear closed.

"Hold on Elizabeth, I'll be right down!" Booker yelled as he ran down to Elizabeth. She was passed out on the chair. Booker gently grabbed her hand and helped up sit up. "It's OK, I got you."

"Don't let me do that ever again..." she whispered.

"Sshh," Booker quieted her. "You need to conserve your energy."

As she sat up, he noticed a large needle injected into her back. "I'll fix this. You ready?"  
She nodded. He quickly pulled the needle out of her back. Her back contracted as it adapted to the needle's absence.

After she had relaxed again, she pointed to her untied corset. "Can you help me with this?"

"I'm sorry Elizabeth, this is all my fault," he said as he retired her corset "I should have been better prepared..." Elizabeth cringed as he tightened her corset.

Booker continued talking. "But this time, I'll be ready for him." He felt his new vigor powers surging through him. "We'll find another airship and we'll leave Columbia!"

"Booker..."

"Paris, Elizabeth! Remember, you wanted to go-"

"We're not leaving, Booker. We're going to find Comstock."

"Why?"

"You saw what he turns me into! I will not be used as a weapon!" she said as she put her jacket back on.

"So what, you're going to kill him?" Booker said in protest.

"So now is when you start moralizing, Booker?" she laughed slightly. "You forget; I know you."

She was right: He wanted to kill Comstock. He just didn't want her to get hurt in the process. "I'm not going to let you kill Comstock," Booker said.

Elizabeth frowned. "Then I guess this is where we part ways." She said. Elizabeth started to walk away.

"You're not going to kill Comstock," Booker said again.

She turned around to see Booker wielding his skyhook and holding his pistol. He had a fiery look of determination in his eyes.

"Because I'm going to do it for you."

**Note: This turned out to be longer than I expected! Sorry it's a bit long; I was going to make this two chapters but I couldn't find a good point to split it so I just made it one big, two act chapter. The story's reaching its climax; how will it end ;)**


	22. Ascension

"Look, it's the Hand of the Prophet! That's Comstock's flagship!" Elizabeth exclaimed. She was pointing to a massive airship floating outside. "Comstock's probably up there; We've got to find a way on board"

"Stay here, I'll handle this" Booker said as walked over to the doorway leading outside.

Elizabeth grabbed his hand. "No," she said. "We're do this together, Booker, or I'm doing it alone."

Booker let out a deep sigh; he wasn't going to change her mind. "Fine, but stay close to me" he said. He opened the door leading out onto the rooftop terrace. The hulking airship loomed overhead.

"How are we going to get up there?" Elizabeth asked.

"I'll think of something." Booker responded.

Suddenly, Comstock's voice came booming down from above.

"Look around you, Elizabeth. I built this all for you! You are my heir, and my blood! And what had DeWitt ever done for you? To him, you are now what you always were: a means to an end. Once he had what he needs, he will leave you alone! What else could you expect from a liar and a killer of women?"

"Father... Prophet... whomever you are; I'm leaving and there's not you can do to stop me!" Elizabeth shouted up at the airship.

Comstock chuckled. "Oh, sweet child, that's where you're wrong..."

The Hand of the Prophet began firing on them.

"Look out, take cover!" Elizabeth pushed Booker behind a statue and they braced for the impact. The shell hit the ground, but there was no explosion. Elizabeth poked her head out to investigate. "They must be duds" she said.

Suddenly the front of the shells flew open to reveal a mechanical robot holding a gattling gun. The robot appeared to be modeled after Comstock. "The Lord judges, I act!" the robot shouted out as it started to fire its gun at Booker.

Booker turned to Elizabeth. "You stay here, I'll take care of this." he yelled.

Elizabeth nodded. Her eyes widened as she pointed to something behind Booker.

"Look out!" she screamed.

"Wha-" Booker began to say, but he was cut off. The robot grabbed him and threw him against the wall. Booker pulled out his pistol and began firing on the machine, but the bullets seemed to bounce off it's metal shell. "Reap what you sow!" it yelled as it charged at Booker. Booker rolled out of the way and the machine crashed into the wall.

"Booker, the gears! Hit the gears!" Elizabeth yelled to him. Booker looked at the robots back; two large exposed gears stuck out the back. He aimed his pistol and took a few shots. The gears shattered and the robot's movement slowed to a crawl before it fell over. Booker walked over to the fallen automaton and placed his foot on it's head. "That's one Comstock down, one more to go" he said with a smile.

"There's more than that," she said, pointing up at the sky. "Look!"

Another wave of pods were being launched. "I don't know if I can fight that many at once!" Booker exclaimed.

"You may not have to; look!" she said. Red gunships began to come down from above, each loaded with Vox soldiers. "Death to Comstock!" they shouted as they lept of their ships.

"For Fink!" shouted one of the robots. The two groups meet in a violent clash of flesh and metal.

Booker loaded his pistol and prepared for a fight. "Booker, over here!" Elizabeth called. She was standing on one of the Vox's gunships. "Come on, before they see us!"

Booker ran over and jumped onto the deck. Booker took the wheel and sailed the craft away from the fighting.

"There it is!" Elizabeth exclaimed, pointing to The Hand of the Prophet. "We need to land below, and fight our way up to Comstock!"

"Or we could just fly this thing to Paris." Booker said hopefully.

Elizabeth frowned. "Just drop me off if you want," she turned her back to him and walked over to the ship's bow. "This isn't your fight, Booker."

Booker grabbed her shoulder and turned her around so she was looking at him. "As long as there are people trying to hurt you, it will always be my fight"

She started into his deep green eyes. "I won't abandon you, Elizabeth" he said.

"You wouldn't... would you?" she said with a smile. She hugged Booker.

Suddenly, she pulled back. "Booker, we've got company!" she said.

A small gunship loaded with soldiers flew down to meet them. Booker readied his pistol, and pushed Elizabeth behind him.

The ship pulled up next to theirs and the soldiers aimed their guns at Booker. "Drop your weapon, False Shepherd!"

Booker remained firm. "There's seven of us and one of you! I'd recommend you do as we say!" the soldier yelled.

Booker laughed. "I've faced worse odds," Booker yelled back. "And I've come out on top."

He felt Elizabeth tug on his jacket. "Booker, do what they say or you'll get hurt!"

"I'll be fine Elizabeth-"

"Please!"

She stared up a him. her big blue eyes filled with terror.

Booker reluctantly dropped his pistol and put his hands up.

"We have orders to take The Lamb to Comstock!" the soldier said.

"Over my dead body" Booker snarled.

"That can be arranged," the soldier said. He hit Booker with the butt of his rifle, and Booker dropped to the ground.

"Booker!" Elizabeth screamed. One of the soldier's grabbed her and pulled her onto the gunship.

Booker groaned as he tried to stand up. Two other soldier's grabbed him and threw him onto the ship's deck.

Booker looked up and saw two soldier's struggling to pull Elizabeth into the ship's cabin. "Hey..." Booker wearily mumbled. He tried to stand up and stop them. "Hey, leave her alone..."

Then he felt something hard impact the side of his head. He blacked out.

**Note: Hope you guys are looking forward to the ending as much as I am! I know I've been using the Vox as a way to skip combat lately, but only because combat is hard to write, and kind of boring to read. Hope you didn't mind my little change to how they got to the airship ;)**


	23. The Truth will set you Free

Booker's head was throbbing. He groaned as his eyes slowly opened. He found himself laying in a dusty cot in a small room.

Booker slowly sat up. There was a note on door.

You've failed, False Shepherd. Your fate lies in The Lord's hands now. Repent for your sins, and pray for forgiveness. Even one such as you can be saved. -C

"Comstock..." Booker muttered.

He walked over to the door and banged on it with his fist. "Hey, open up!"

No response. He hit the door again and yelled louder. "Is anyone out there?"

"Quiet False Shepherd!" a voice hissed through the door.

"I want to see the girl!" Booker yelled, hitting the door again.

"I said be quiet!" the voice yelled back.

"Make me!" Booker yelled back.

The door opened and a soldier walked in. "I told you to-"

Before he could finish, Booker knocked him out with a swift punch to the jaw. "Amateurs" Booker said with a laugh.

He grabbed the guards gun and slowly crept out of the room. He was in a long hallway with more doors on each side. Nobody else was here.

Booker walked along the hallway, trying to find on where he was. He opened another door and found himself in a large hangar bay. There were only a few gunships left; the soldiers were still fighting the Vox. He found a map of the ship posted on the wall. He was on the lowest level, and Comstock was up three floors.

"Don't worry Elizabeth, I'm coming," Booker said. "And this time, i'm finishing the job."

Up on the top deck, Comstock stood patiently in his ceremonial baptism chamber. He stood behind an ornate baptism altar, and behind him was a large stained-glass window. The door opened and a soldier walked in.

He knelt down and bowed his head. "Father, we have The Lamb."

Comstock smiled. "Good, my son. You do God's work today. Send her in."

The soldier bowed and left the room. Two more soldiers carried in Elizabeth. She was struggling against their grip. "Let me go, you brutes!" They pushed her into the room and quickly sealed the door behind her.

She stood up and looked around. "Where am I?"

"Welcome child," Comstock said softly. "Welcome home."

Elizabeth looked at him with anger. "What have you done with Booker!"

He frowned. "Still worrying about The False Shepherd, I see..."

"Tell me! Where is he?" she protested.

Comstock sighed. "Very well," he said. "Mr. DeWitt is in a holding chamber several levels down."

"Is he hurt?"

"I told the guards not to harm him unless he tries to escape" Comstock explained.

Elizabeth frowned.

"You look lost," Comstock said gently. "Do you have some questions for this old man?"

She looked at him nervously. "Yes..."

"Well come now, ask!" he said with a laugh. "I don't bite."

"Father..." she said uneasily. "Tell me... What am I? Why did you lock me away?"

Comstock took Elizabeth's hand. "Elizabeth, everything I've done, I've done to keep you safe."

"From what?" Elizabeth asked.

"The seed of the Prophet shall sit the throne, and drown in fire the mountains of man..." He said.

His voice became harsher. "But the archangel Columbia revealed something else to me. Beware Prophet. Beware of the False Shepherd, Booker DeWitt! For he shall be a wall between her and destiny!"

"Why?" She asked.

"Because-" Comstock began to explain, but was cut when the door flew open.

"Step away from the lady, pal" Booker said as he walked in and aimed his pistol at Comstock.

"Booker!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "You're alive!"

She ran over to him and hugged him.

Comstock laughed. "DeWitt, I'm a fool! I sent mighty armies to crush you; I rained fire down upon you from above! I did all that to keep her from you, when all I needed to do was tell her the truth..."

Elizabeth backed up and turned to looked at Comstock. "The truth?" she repeated. She looked back at Booker. "Booker, what is he talking about?"

Comstock walked over to Elizabeth.

"Hey, get away from her!" Booker growled as he pulled back the hammer of his pistol.

Elizabeth held her hand up. "No Booker, let him talk."

She turned back to Comstock, who was now standing next to her. "Ask him what happened to your finger."

"What?" she said surprised.

Comstock grabbed her hand.

"Ask him about your finger! Ask DeWitt! Ask The False Shepherd!"

"Let go of me!" Elizabeth protested, but she couldn't break away from Comstock's grip.

"Hey, let go of her!" Booker yelled as he grabbed Comstock by the collar and lifted him up. "She's your daughter, you son of a bitch! And you abandoned her!" He slammed Comstock's head into the alter. "Was it worth it? Huh? Did you get what you wanted! Tell me! Tell me!"

"Booker!" Elizabeth was yelling, but Booker didn't hear her.

"It... is... finished..." Comstock whispered before his eyes closed.

"NOTHING is finished!" Booker yelled.

Elizabeth kept yelling, trying to get his attention."Booker!"

"You locked her up for her whole life! You cut off her finger and put it on me!" He shoved Comstock's face into the water. Bubbles started to form as Comstock began to drown. Booker held him under the water.

"Booker, stop it!" Elizabeth yelled.

Comstock stopped struggling and his body lay limp.

Elizabeth looked horrified "You killed him..."

Booker slowly stepped back, his hands trembling. He looked at Elizabeth, who stared back at him with a look of distraught on her face.

"What did he mean?" Elizabeth said. "Huh? You tell me, what did he mean about my finger?"

A tear opened behind her, revealing a massive tornado headed straight for them.

"I don't know... I-I just assumed you were born with it..." Booker stammered as he stared at the tornado in horror.

She stared at him with soul searching eyes, as if she was trying to find out if he was lying. The tornado got closer and Booker felt himself being pulled towards it.

"Elizabeth, I swear to you: I have no idea what he was talking about" he said in panic.

After a few seconds, she let out a sigh and the tear closed behind her. Booker let out a sigh of relief.

"Booker," she said as she stared into his eyes. "Are you afraid of God?"

"No," he said coldly. "But I'm afraid of you."

**Note: I knew I'd get that quote in there somehow ;)**

**But in all seriousness, we've reached a critical moment in the story. From here I could go with the games' depressing ending or try and write a happier one. I had originally planned to stick rigidly to the game's story, but as you can see that kind of fell apart towards the end :P **

**I think maybe I write two endings: One that follows the game's plot, and one that's my own ending. I'm looking forward to writing the ending, even though I'm sad to see the story come to a close.**


	24. The Phoenix

**Note: Sorry for the long delay. I had to take this down the first time to fix some pretty big problems, and it has changed significantly since then. So, after nearly two weeks in development, hopefully it has been worth the wait! Sit back, relax, and enjoy _The Phoenix._**

"Setting course for Paris" Booker said to Elizabeth as he turned the ship's wheel.

They were on the bridge of The Hand of the Prophet. Booker was at the wheel and Elizabeth was looking out the large front window. Booker put the ship on autopilot and sat back in the captain's chair.

"Elizabeth," Booker said, "Can we talk?"

"About what?" she said without turning around.

"About what happened, back there with Comstock..."

"Let's not discuss it," Elizabeth said dismissively.

"Elizabeth..."

She whirled around and glared at him. "I don't want to talk about it"

Booker stood up and walked over to her. She continued to glare at him with her arms crossed.

"I said, I don't want to talk about it" she said angrily.

"I do." Booker said firmly. Elizabeth turned her back to him, her arms still tightly crossed.

"What did they do to you, Elizabeth?" Booker asked, placing his hand on her shoulder.

She shrugged it off without uncrossing her arms. "Why do you care?" she said, still not looking at him.

Booker crossed his arms and frowned. "Why are you so defensive about this, Elizabeth?" he asked.

"Do you really want to know what they did to me, Booker?" Elizabeth asked softly as she stared out at the passing clouds.

"Yes, I do" Booker said.

"They tried to break me, Booker" she told him. "They tried to make me see things how he saw them..."

"Who?" Booker asked. "How who sees things?"  
"Comstock..." Elizabeth whispered.

"Comstock... that son of a bitch..." Booker growled. "What did he do you, Elizabeth? What did he try and make you believe?"

She turned to look at him. Booker saw tears were rolling down her cheeks. "Elizabeth, what's wrong?" he said quickly, moving to comfort her.

"They made me hate you Booker," she said, trying to hold back the tears. "They made me want to destroy you."

Booker stepped back in shock. "What?" he exclaimed.

"What Comstock said to me, and then seeing you kill him..." she said as more tears began to fill her eyes. "In my anger, I almost killed you Booker! I'm a monster!"

Booker was still in shock, unable to react. All he could do was stammer "W-what?"

Elizabeth was hyperventilating now. "See!" she shouted between breaths. "Just like you said! You are scared of me!"

She grabbed his gun off the table and pulled back the hammer. The click of the hammer snapped Booker out of shock. When he saw Elizabeth holding his gun, he immediately tried to take it from her.

She pointed the gun at him. Booker stopped in his tracks and held his hands up. "Whoa, be careful with that!"

"Booker," she stammered through her tears. "I don't want to hurt you, or anyone, ever again..."

"Then put the gun down, Elizabeth, and everything will be OK..." he said calmingly, slowly walking closer to her as he talked. "Just calm down and we can talk about this..."

"I'm a monster, Booker. Comstock saw that and so do you." She pointed the gun at her head. "I'd rather die now than live to see myself hurt you."

"Elizabeth no!" Booker shouted as he tackled her to the ground, knocking the gun out of her hand.

"Booker, what are you doing!" she yelled.

"My job," he stated. "Protecting you."

"But—"

Booker cut her off. "Elizabeth, I've risked my life countless times to keep you safe. Why do you think I would want to see you hurt yourself to protect me?"

"B-but you said..." Elizabeth stammered as Booker helped her up.

Booker chuckled. "Elizabeth, I've fought hundreds of professional soldiers, flying airships, robots, and crazy bird men. What makes you think I would be scared of little ole you?" he contested with a smirk.

"Then what you said before," she spoke nervously. "What did you mean?"

Booker took Elizabeth's hand in his own and stared into her eyes. "I'm scared your powers will separate us again," he told her. "I will fight until my dying breath to protect you Elizabeth, but I can't protect you from yourself."

Elizabeth's eyes filled with tears again. "Oh Booker, I-I'm so sorry. I can't believe what I just—I almost did..."

She wrapped her arms around Booker and squeezed. Booker hugged her back. He wasn't letting anyone take her away. Not now; not ever.

Suddenly, they heard a loud screech in the distance.

Booker looked behind them and saw Songbird rapidly approaching. "Heads up!" he shouted as he pulled Elizabeth out of the way just as Songbird crashed through the window. Songbird swatted Booker out of the way, sending him crashing through the window.

"Booker!" Elizabeth screamed as she ran over to the window. She looked out to see him laying motionless on the deck.

Songbird jumped down onto the deck and stood over Booker. Its eyes changed from yellow to red as it raised its clawed hand to strike.

"Stop! Stop it! Don't hurt him!" Elizabeth yelled as she ran in front of Songbird.

Songbird gently pushed her out of the way. She tried to push back, but Songbird ignored her futile efforts and refocused on Booker. Songbird prepared to strike again.

"No!" Elizabeth screamed as she threw herself in front of Booker's body. Songbird halted his strike just inches from Elizabeth's face. Its eyes changed from red to yellow as it pulled its arm back.

"What happened you?" Elizabeth shouted at Songbird. Songbird responded by tilting its head slightly, as if it were confused.

Elizabeth's eyes filled with tears. "You used to be my friend..." she murmured softly. "Why are you doing this?"

Songbird chirped softly as it lowered its head, as if it were thinking.

"Comstock's dead!" Elizabeth shouted through her tears. "You're free now, just like me!"

Songbird perked up when it heard the word free. Its eyes became green and it lowered its head so it leveled with Elizabeth's height. Elizabeth gently stroked Songbird's beak as she softly hummed. Songbird seemed to relax; it began to softly coo.

Elizabeth heard a groan behind her. She turned around to see Booker slowly waking up. She immediately ran to his side. "Oh my god, Booker, I'm sorry! I forgot all about you!" she exclaimed as she helped him stand up.

"Thanks," he muttered with a chuckle as he stood up. He turned to see Songbird looming over them.

"Holy shit!" he yelled as he reached for his gun.

Elizabeth laughed. "It's OK Booker, he won't hurt us" she assured him softly.

Booker stared up at Songbird, who tilted its head to get a better look at Booker. Songbird saw he was holding a pistol. Its eyes changed from green to yellow and it clenched its hands into fists.

"Booker, put away your gun!" Elizabeth snapped as she walked over to calm Songbird. "Shh, it's OK. He's not going to hurt us..." she whispered as she stroked Songbird's beak.

Booker reluctantly put away his pistol. Songbird's eyes changed back to green and it refocused on Elizabeth. "See, Booker won't hurt you..." she whispered to Songbird, who cooed softly in response.

Booker was still uneasy about being this close to Songbird. "Elizabeth, be careful..." he warned.

"It's fine Booker, he won't hurt me," Elizabeth said. "He was only trying to protect me"

"But," Booker started to say, but he was interrupted by a loud horn. Gunships loaded with Colombian soldiers began to descend from the sky.

"False Shepherd!" a voice boomed through the night. "Hand over The Lamb!"

"Dammit, it's Comstock's men here to finish the job!" Booker growled.

The gunship shined a bright spotlight down on them. "Ah, The Songbird has already recovered The Lamb!" the voice said with a surprised tone. "Songbird, please take The Lamb to safety. We will deal with The False Shepherd."

Songbird looked down at Elizabeth. "You don't have to listen them anymore," she whispered to Songbird. "You're free..."

"Songbird! Return The Lamb to her tower at once! The Prophet demands it!" the voice yelled.

Elizabeth reached out and touched Songbird's beak. "Will you help us?" she whispered. "I need you to protect us, will you do it? Will you do this for me, just this one last time?"

Songbird cooed softly in agreement as it stood up.

"Elizabeth, what is going on..." Booker asked nervously as he watched Songbird spread its wings.

Elizabeth turned to Booker as Songbird took off into the night. "Booker, he'll help us!" she exclaimed excitedly. "He can fight those gunships for us!"

The gunships began to scatter. Booker could hear the voice yelling to the other gunships. "The Songbird has gone rogue! I repeat: The Songbird has gone rogue! Everyone to battle stations!" the voice commanded.

Booker watched as Songbird tore through the Columbian gunships. Their ships were no match for Songbird's speed and agility.

"Booker, watch out! Some of the soldiers are boarding us!" Elizabeth yelled, pointing to a small group of soldier's dropping down onto the deck.

Booker pulled out his pistol and began firing at the approaching assailants. "Elizabeth, go hide somewhere safe!" he shouted as he ducked to avoid incoming fire. He stood up and shocked the group of soldiers with Shock Jockey.

"But—"

"Now!" Booker yelled as he burned a soldier with Devil's Kiss.

Booker turned around, looking where she was hiding to find that she was crouched under some stairs. She saw him and waved sheepishly. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide and she pointed behind him. "Booker, behind you!"

He spun around to see a large man standing over him with a club. "Nighty night, False Shepherd!" the soldier taunted before he brought the club down on Booker's head. Booker fell to the ground.

"Booker, no!" Elizabeth screamed.

The soldier's heard her scream. "Hey, there's The Lamb! Grab her!" one of them shouted.

Elizabeth tried to run but she tripped as she stood up. The soldier's grabbed her by the arms. One pulled out a radio. "We've got The Lamb, requesting immediate transport! I repeat: we have The Lamb!" he informed into the radio.

"Let me go!" Elizabeth demanded as she desperately tried to get out the soldier's grip. They gripped her tighter as she struggled.

"Songbird!" she shouted into the night. Her cry for help was answered by a loud screech.

"Ah hell..." one of the soldiers mumbled as Songbird came flying out of the clouds.

Songbird landed on the deck, sending a shockwave that knocked the soldier's back. They pulled out their guns but Songbird swatted them out of the way, sending them flying off the side of the airship. Songbird grabbed Elizabeth and held her in his hand. "It's OK, I'm fine" she whispered softly. Songbird cooed nervously as it looked at Booker, who was holding his head as he slowly got up.

"You go," Elizabeth told Songbird "I'll help him!". Songbird whistled in agreement as he placed her down and flew off into the night. Elizabeth ran over to Booker. "Are you OK?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he claimed as he rubbed his head. "Are you OK?"

Elizabeth helped him stand up. "Yeah, I'm fine. Songbird saved me," she told him.

"Songbird?" Booker enquired. He looked up to see Songbird trumpet a war-cry as he destroyed another airship. "I'm beginning to feel obsolete," he confessed with a laugh.

"Oh, Booker. Songbird could never replace you!" Elizabeth affirmed with a smile. "Plus, I doubt they'd let Songbird into restaurants in Paris."

"Activate the Siphon!" they heard one of the soldiers yell. Booker turned to see a airship with a large set of speakers flying towards them.

"Run Elizabeth!" Booker shouted, but it was too late. The Siphon was activated and beams of energy began flowing out of Elizabeth. She shrieked in pain.

"Booker! Booker, make it stop!" she begged.

Booker tried to grab her but she was encased in a shield of energy and he couldn't touch her. Booker pulled out his gun and began firing at the shield, but the bullets bounced off harmlessly. Songbird heard Elizabeth's cries and swooped down to help her, but he too was unable to harm the force field. Elizabeth fell to her knees as she continued to scream in pain.

"Damnit!" Booker yelled. Songbird screeched in agreement. Suddenly, beams of energy began flowing out of the airship and encasing the remaining gunships in protective shields. The gunships began to fire on Booker and Songbird. Songbird grabbed Booker and dodged the incoming fire. Songbird flew towards the siphon airship and prepared to attack it.

"Wait!" Booker called to Songbird. "If you destroy this siphon, the explosion will hurt her. It's too close!"

Booker turned to point at he tower. "The Tower! You have to destroy the tower!" Booker exclaimed.

Songbird tilted its head to look at the floating gunship. "No, the big one. The one in the tower! You have to destroy the tower!"

Songbird eyed Booker, as if he was trying to determine if he was serious. "Hurry! Elizabeth won't last much longer!" he yelled.

Songbird screech in agreement as he soared off into the night, headed straight for Monument Island. The tower was coming into view now, its head sticking up above the clouds. Booker heard Songbird let out a screech before dive-bombing into the tower. The tower exploded and a bright light was emitted from tower's core. Booker covered his eyes.

"Elizabeth? Elizabeth!"


	25. AD

**Note: Updated! I reworked the ending to flow better, and tweaked a few things here and there throughout the story. If you already read this, you may want to read the ending again. **

Booker felt water gently flowing under him. He opened his eyes, only to be blinded by the sun beating down on him. Through his squinted eyes, he could make out two figures standing a few feet away. He could barely make out what they were saying.

"Do you think he'll wake up soon?"

"I do hope so."

"This insipid waiting is pointless, dear brother. We should just leave him to his fate."

"No, after all we've put him through he has a right to know the truth."  
"We did nothing! It was all his doing."

"Come now sister, our role in Mr. DeWitt's story was far more significant that you think."

Booker started to sit up. "Hey... where am I?" he called to the arguing twins.

They both turned to look at him. The man smiled. "Ah, Mr. DeWitt! So good of you to finally join us."

As Booker's eyes adjusted to the light, he realized who these two were. "You two..." he said surprised. "What are you two doing here?"

He looked around, and realized he wasn't in Columbia anymore. "Where is here?"

The woman laughed. "You don't recognize it?" she said with a smirk.

Booker's head began to hurt and his vision blurred. "Wait... I remember..."

"What do you remember?" the man said encouragingly.

"I came here... after Wounded Knee. I was looking for..."

"Come on now, time's a wastin!" a voice behind him called. Booker heard soft humming behind him. He turned around to find a circle of men surrounding a priest, humming church hymns quietly.

"Why were you here?" the male twin asked.

Before Booker could answer, the priest called to him again. "Are you ready to have your past erased? Are you ready to have you sins cleansed? Are you ready to be born again?"

The priest held out his hand. "Take my hand!"

Booker felt himself walked forward towards the priest and the humming congregation.

"Are you ready to be born again?" the priest asked him as he approached.

"I am" Booker answered firmly as he took the priest's hand.

"Do you hate you sins?"

"I do."

"Do you hate you wickedness?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to clean the slate, wash away all that you were before, and be born again in the blood of the lamb?"

"Yes!"

"Jesus!" the priest called up to the heavens. "Wash this man clean! Father, make him-"

Booker suddenly felt like something was wrong. "Stop it..." he whispered. The priest did not hear him, and continued with the baptism. "Stop it!" Booker yelled as he pushed away from the priest, who handed him in surprise. "Out of my way!" Booker growled as he pushed his way out of the circle. He felt the priest grab his shoulder.

"Wait, brother!" he said in dismay.

"Get off me!" Booker shouted as he pushed the priest off. He tripped over a rock and stumbled forward before falling down into the shallow river. He quickly got up and turned around, but the priest and the humming men were gone.

"You didn't go through with it," a voice behind him said.

He whipped around to find himself staring at the twins again. "What the hell was that?" Booker said in anger.

"Your past," the woman answered smartly. "A rather troubling one at that."

"You don't know me!" Booker retorted, still glaring at them.

They looked at each other. "She certainly took this a lot better than he did," the man said.

Booker's eyes widened. "Elizabeth..." he whispered.

"Ah yes, the girl," the woman said to Booker. "It seems he hasn't forgotten her just yet."

Booker's eyes narrowed. "Where is she?" he growled. "Take me to her!"

The man chuckled. "All in good time, Mr. DeWitt."

The twins walked towards a small wooden shack. "Hey, where are you going?" Booker yelled after them. They didn't respond.  
"Hey!" Booker shouted as he ran after them. They open the door and walked into the shack. Booker grabbed the door and threw it open, only to find himself in his New York office.

"And what of my debts?" Booker heard himself ask.

The twins stood at the door. "Bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt," they said together.

"What are we doing here?" Booker asked in frustration.

"Bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt," they repeated.

"That was the deal, I know, but she's not here!" Booker responded.

"Bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt,"

"Why do you keep asking-" Booker started to say, but stopped when he heard a cry from the back room.

"What what that?" Booker said as he walked towards the back room.

He opened the door and saw a small crib in the corner. "What..." Booker mumbled as he walked over to the crib. Inside was a small squirming baby with bright blue eyes and dark hair. It smiled when it saw him. "What is this?" he asked himself. "There was no baby..."

He turned to see the twins standing in the doorway. "There was no baby!" he said excitedly. "Even if there was, I sure as hell wouldn't give it over to you!"

The twins continued to stare blankly at him. "Say something!" Booker cried.

The man answered his plea. "DeWitt, time is running short. Bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt."

Booker felt himself pick up the baby, who reached out to softly touch his face. Booker looked into the baby's innocent eyes. "No..." Booker whispered.

He felt himself walk towards the twins. "No..." Booker whispered, louder this time.

The saw himself hand the baby to the twins. The man accepted the baby. "The debt is paid, Mr. Comstock washes you of all your sins."

The door slammed shut in Booker's face. "No... no no no!" Booker heard himself shouting. He pushed open the door, and found himself in an alley. He saw the twins and another man standing in front of a portal. The mysterious man was holding the baby.

Booker started running towards them. "Hey, the deals off! You hear me? The deals off!" he began yelling. The three turned to see Booker charging at them. "Quickly, through the portal!" yelled the male twin. He and his sister hurried through the portal. Booker grabbed the third man's arm and began pulling. "Give her back, you son-of-a-bitch!"

The man turned to look at him. Booker recognized the man's face. "Comstock..." he whispered. Comstock pulled away from Booker and stepped through the portal. Booker grabbed his arms again and tried to pry the baby out of his hands. "Shutdown the machine! Shut it down!" Comstock yelled.

"No, no no no! Ana! Ana!" Booker began yelling.

"Shut it down now!"

"Give me back my daughter!" Booker screamed as Comstock pulled away from him. Booker saw little Ana looking at him, her blue eyes filled with fear and confusion, as the portal closed and left him alone in the alley. He fell to his knees. "Ana... I'm sorry..." he whispered.

He walked in the rain back to his office. As he walked over to his desk, he looked at the door leading to the back room. Booker walked over and placed his hand on the doorknob. "She's gone, Mr. DeWitt," a voice behind him said. "Ana's gone."

He looked at his hand, still with the brand AD. "Ana... DeWitt," Booker whispered. His head hit the door as tears began to well up in his eyes. "My daughter..."

"You shared this room with your regret for nearly twenty years." said a voice behind him

He turned around and saw the twins standing by the door, watching him. His office in shambles. The windows were boarded up, the wallpaper was peeling off, and all his furniture was gone.

"Until one day," the male twin continued "a man came to you and offered you chance at redemption..."

"A chance for you two to be together again" said his sister.

The twins turned and looked at the wall across from Booker. A flash of light emerged from the wall and a portal appeared. The twins stepped through the portal.

Booker stared incredulously at the portal. "Wait, where are you going?" he called after them. They could not hear him as they stepped through the tear. "Hey! Come back!" Booker shouted as he walked towards the tear. He grabbed the man's arms and pulled. "I still want answers!"

The man stuck his head back through the portal and said "And you will get them, Mr. DeWitt."

Suddenly Booker was pulled forward into the portal. He was blinded by a bright light as he passed through the portal. He felt weak and his head began to throb. He felt himself fall onto a hard and wet surface.

"I told you it would work," he heard a voice say, tauntingly.

"We already know IT works; the question is: will he?" a woman's voice replied.

Booker opened his eyes. His vision was still fuzzy, but he could make out two figures, clothed in rain gear standing over him. One of them was holding his hand, but Booker was too weak to pull away from their grasp.

"Hmm, do you suppose he branded himself as some form of penance?" said the one of the right.

The one of the left did not answer, and continued to analyze Booker's hand.

"I don't see the point. What's done is done. What's done WILL be done," the one on the right continued as he stood up. "I suppose it is his hairshirt, as he is ours."

"Bring us the girl... and wipe away the debt..." Booker began to mumble before his blacked out again.


	26. Update!

Sorry for the long delay. I've been having trouble coming up with new ideas for the next chapter. However, if you don't already know, now that a new Bioshock Infinite DLC taking place in Rapture is coming out soon, so I may wait to see what that story adds to the plot, so maybe I can tie that in as well.


End file.
